Sidon : a study in oriental history

XiMi

'1754. j

ICOlUMBlA^

1893.1

UNIVERSITY

h Press

tftf

4

\<&

LIBRARY

OF THE

University of California.

Gl FT OF

r.<5L/ 3d**AAJ&0Z

Class

tftf

SIDON

A STUDY IN ORIENTAL
HISTORY

BY

FREDERICK CARL EI8ELEN

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree

of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Philosophy

Columbia University

Nftu fork
i00r

IX 1)

Tgfts

/.

Copyright 1907
By The Macmillan Company

Set up and printed from the type
Published, May, 1907

GRATEFULLY DEDICATED

TO

PROFESSOR RICHARD J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D.
TEACHER AND FRIEND

160781

NOTE

The Mediterranean Sea is the natural meeting place of the
various influences that have proceeded from three continents.
The life of those cities that have taken a prominent part in
developing the countries on its littoral must always be of interest
to the student of history. Each city mirrors not only the general
influences that were at work, but adds thereto its special quota
of peculiar force. The role played by the Phoenicians, during
the generations of their power and influence, as mediators be-
tween conflicting interests gives to their history a certain attrac-
tion. One of the chief centres of their power was the city of
Sidon, and in the present volume of the Columbia University
Oriental Series, Dr. F. C. Eiselen has studied the history of that
city from the earliest times down to the present day. For this
purpose he has gathered together the various references to
be found regarding Sidon upon Assyrian and Egyptian monu-
ments, in Hebrew literature, in the classical authors, in the
records of pilgrims and in the historical works of Mohammedan
writers. On account of the nature of the sources, his account of
the life of the city must at times be disconnected. Future
excavations will undoubtedly enrich our knowledge in regard
to Sidon, and the discovery of ancient documents written by
neighboring peoples will fill up many of the gaps. As far as our
knowledge reaches at present, Dr. Eiselen has carefully brought
together all that is to be found, and has laid down the general
lines of development along which the city passed, first to its

glory and then to its decline.

Richard Gottheil.
April, 1907.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Preliminary Studies.

1. Topography of Sidon 1

2. The Name Sidon 10

3. Is Sidon Older than Tyre? 16

II. The Political History of Sidon.

1. The Founding of Sidon 27

2. History of Sidon to the Close of the Tel-el-

Amarna Period 33

3. To the Destruction of Sidon by Esarhaddon.... 40

4. To the Destruction of Sidon by Artaxerxes

Ochus 55

5. To the Beginning of the Crusades 68

6. The Period of the Crusades 82

7. To the Present Day 102

III. Colonies, Commerce and Industries 110

IV. The Religious History of Sidon 124

V. Antiquities and Inscriptions 138

Appendix I.— The Kings of Sidon 155

Appendix II.— The Coins of Sidon 157

Appendix III.— Antiquities from Sidon 164

I. PRELIMINARY STUDIES

CHAPTER I

TOPOGRAPHY OF SIDON

In the wider sense the term Phoenicia was applied by the
ancients to the whole territory extending along the eastern
shore of the Mediterranean, from the Gulf of Issus, which separ-
ates Cilicia from Syria, to the desert between Palestine and
Egypt. 1 In a narrower sense it was used by the Greeks and
Romans to designate a strip of the coast land, about 200 miles
long and from two to fifteen miles wide. On the east this tract
is bounded by the Lebanon Mountains, from which flow the
streams that water the plain. The northern and southern
limits are more difficult to determine, as they varied from time
to time. Generally speaking, the territory extended from a few
miles beyond the Eleutheros in the north, to Mount Carmel in
the south, a little more than two degrees of latitude.

The territory is mostly level, cut here and there by headlands
which project into the Mediterranean; as a result, the long and
narrow maritime plain may be conveniently divided into smaller
sections, called, beginning from the south, after the principal
cities located in them, the Plain of Acco, the Plain of Tyre, the
Plain of Sidon, the Plain of Beyrut, etc. 3 Following this division,
the Plain of Sidon may be reckoned from the Ras $arafand, a
little north of Sarafand, 3 northward to the Ras-al-Jajunieh, a
distance of about ten miles.

1 Pliny, Historia naturalis, IX, 12, calls the Mediterranean Sea from Cilicia
to Egypt, Phcenicium mare.

2 Rawlinson, Hist, of Phoen., p. 6ff.

3 The Biblical Sarepta.

2 TOPOGRAPHY OF S1DON

The plain itself is very narrow, hardly ever more than two
miles in width; it is well watered and very fertile. The water
is supplied chiefly by three streams, coming from the mountains
immediately east of the plain, the Nahr-al-Auwaly in the north,
just inside of the Ras-al-Jajunieh, the Nahr Senik, which flows
into the Mediterranean immediately south of Sidon, and the
Nahr-az-Zaherany, about two and a half miles north of Sarepta.
The water supply is supplemented by several fountains, among
them the Ain-al-Kanterah and the Ain-al-Burak 1 between
Sarepta and the Nahr-az-Zaherany. With this abundant water
supply irrigation of the less favored spots becomes quite easy,
and it is practiced extensively. The result is everywhere abund-
ant fertility and beauty, of which writers in all ages speak with
much enthusiasm. In the latter part of the fifth century A.D.
Achilles Tatius 2 describes a grove near Sidon, ' ' thickly planted
with plane trees, through which flowed a stream of water, cold
and transparent as that which proceeds from newly melted
snow." The Arabic historians and geographers allude to it
again and again. Idrisi, writing c. 1154, speaks of Sidon as
surrounded by gardens and trees; 3 Yakut, c. 1225, states that
there are large quantities of vegetables grown around the town ;*
and Ibn Batuta, 1355, calls it "a town full of fruit trees." 6
Of more recent travelers Robinson writes: "The beauty of
Sidon consists in its gardens and orchards of fruit trees, which

fill the plain and extend to the foot of the adjacent hills

The environs exhibit everywhere a luxuriant verdure, and the
fruits of Sidon are reckoned among the finest in the country.""
Similarly Porter: "The gardens and orchards of Sidon are

1 Renan, Mission de Phenicie, pp. 524, 665.

2 De Clitophontis et Leucippes amoribus, I, near beginning.

3 Nuzhat al-MuUdk, ed. Gildemeister, p. 15; translation of Jaubert, p. 354.

4 Mu'jam al-bulddn, ed. Wustenfeld, III, p. 439.

8 Tuhjat an-nuzzar, ed. Defremery and Sanguinetti, I, p. 131; cp. also John
Poloner, Palestine Pilgrim Texts, Vol. VI, p. 29; Jacques de Vitry, P. P. T. f
Vol. XI, C. 25; Burchard of Mt. Zion, P. P. T., Vol. XII, pp. 13, 14. Marino
Sanuto, Book III, Part VI, C. 6.

8 Biblical Researches in Palestine, 2d edit., II, p. 479.

THE PLAIN OF SIDON 3

charming. Oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, and palms grow
luxuriantly, and give the environs of the old city a look of
eternal spring. Sidon is one of the few spots in Syria where
nature's luxuriance has triumphed over neglect and ruin." 1
And Benzinger writes: "The magnificent gardens which form
a broad belt around the town, especially on the north, are the
pride of Sidon. Oranges and lemons are largely cultivated and
exported; almonds and apricots, bananas and palms also grow
here. ' n

In this fertile plain stands the present town of Saida, in north-
ern latitude 33° 34' 5", eastern longitude, from Greenwich, 35°
22' 34". 3 It is situated on the northwestern slope of a small
promontory, which projects here, in a southwesterly direction,
for a short distance into the sea. The modern town, which
extends about 900 yards from northeast to southwest, and
somewhat less than 500 yards from east to west, 4 stands close
upon the shore. Evidently, after the Crusades, the few sur-
vivors clustered around the principal harbor of the ancient town,
which was north of the promontory, and there the new city
grew up gradually.

The city has two harbors, but only one, the one in the north, is
now in use. Down to the seventeenth century A.D. it was a very
excellent harbor, but in the early part of that century the Druse
Emir Fakhr-addin, who sought to wrest Syria from the Turks,
ordered it to be filled up in part, so as to prevent the landing
of the Turkish fleet, 5 and at present only small boats can enter.
The harbor is well protected in the west by a rocky island,
which runs along the harbor about 250 yards. The north side
is protected by a chain of small islands and reefs, which
extend in a northeasterly direction about 600 yards. The
present entrance is immediately west of the most easterly
of these islands, which is connected with the city by a

1 The Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 275.

2 Badeker, Palestine and Syria, ed. 1898, p. 313.

3 Ritter, Geogr. und Stat. Lex., II, art. Saida, says 34° 22' 34".

4 According to the map in Badeker. 5 See below, p. 106.

4 TOPOGRAPHY OF SIDON

bridge. 1 The result is a convenient harbor about 500 yards long
and about 200 yards wide. The natural defenses in the west and
north were strengthened in very early times by walls built of
huge blocks along the reefs and islets, remains of which fortifi-
cations may still be seen. 2 The modern bridge connecting the
island in the north with the city may have been preceded in
antiquity, before the time of Alexander the Great, 3 by a strong
wall. 4

Toward the south is a second harbor, even larger than the
first, which extends about 600 yards from north to south, and
nearly 400 yards from east to west. It is surrounded by the
mainland on the north, south, and east, and is open for a space
of about 200 yards toward the west. This harbor has a long
stretch of sandy shore, and hence was a favorite landing place
in very ancient times, when it was customary to draw the vessels
upon the shore when night came. This second harbor can be
used no longer, for it is completely filled with sand. It is not
improbable that at one time the two harbors were connected so
that vessels could pass from one to the other. 5

Upon the island in the north are the ruins of a medieval castle,
built, in the thirteenth century A.D., 6 of large blocks, which in

1 Gustav Hanel says that on this bridge the men of Sidon spend their even-
ings, smoking; Z. D. M. G., IV, 326.

1 Renan, Miss., plan LXVII.

3 Scylax, who belongs to the period preceding Alexander, calls the harbor of
Sidon a "closed harbor;" Peri-plus, ed. Hudson, p. 42.

*But see note 5.

5 Achilles Tatius, I, 1; Scylax, Peripl., p. 42. Pietschmann holds — p.
54ff . — that the so-called southern or Egyptian harbor was never in use. He
looks for the second or outer harbor of which Achilles Tatius speaks in the
small bay between the island upon which stands KaV at-al-Bahr and the main-
land in the north. The ancient entrance to the harbor he locates east of the
island, and he thinks that there was a passage between the island and the
mainland, connecting the two harbors. There is much to be said in favor of
this view; but additional investigation is needed to decide the question.

* "The part of the fortifications of Saida called Kalaat el Bahar, or 'castle
of the sea,' is the only work which we can consider with certainty a con-
temporaneous monument of the Sajette of the Crusades. Yet this castle dates
only from the commencement of the thirteenth century. It was built during

THE HARBORS AND THE CITY 5

more ancient times belonged to another structure. The highest
portion of the modern town is in the southeast, where stands the
KaVat-al-Mu'ezzeh, the ruins of a citadel said by some 1 to have
been built by Louis IX. On the land side the town is enclosed
by a wall which runs across the promontory from sea to sea.
The city itself contains few attractions and few marks of high
antiquity. The streets are narrow, dirty, and crooked, like
those of most Oriental towns. Some of the houses are large and
well built of stone; especially those along the eastern wall are
distinguished for their height and size ; these are built directly on
the line of the wall, and constitute a part of it. Within the
town are nine mosques, the largest of which, J 'ami' -al-Kabir , in
the western part of the town, was formerly a church of the
Knights of St. John. In the open space south of this mosque
stood the palace of Fakhr-addin. It is now occupied by a
Moslem school. Several hundred yards to the northeast stands
the mosque of Abtt Nakleh, formerly a church of St. Michael; a
little farther in the same direction is the Khdn Frans&wi, a
magnificent structure erected by Fakhr-addin. 2 The town con-
tains five other large Khans. 3

One of the most interesting places outside of the modern town
is the ancient necropolis, in which was found in 1855 the sarcoph-
agus of Esmunazar. It is located near a place called Magharet
Abltin, i.e., cavern of Apollo, about 1100 yards southeast of the
Acco gate, which is in the southeast corner of the city wall. 4
Another ancient necropolis has been unearthed east of the city,
about 1650 yards from the sea, near al-Hdldliyeh. Immediately
west of this village, in a small place called Ayaa, in size about
110 by 275 yards, were discovered in 1887 a number of Greek
and Phoenician sarcophagi. 5 Neither of these burial places
goes back to a very early period of Phoenician history; indeed,

the winter of 1227 to 1228"; Rey, Etude sur les monuments de V architecture
militaire des croises, p. 153; see below, p. 94.

1 Pococke, Description of the East and some other Countries, II, 1, p. 87.

2 Below, p. 105. 3 See below, p. 109. * Below, p. 138.
* Below, pp. 138, 139ff.

6 TOPOGRAPHY OF SIDON

it is certain that none of the antiquities found there point to a
period earlier than the sixth century B.C., 1 and perhaps even
later; 2 hence we may hope to discover, at some future time, a
necropolis belonging to a more ancient period.

A few interesting places near the present town may be noted
because of their connection with the past. Between the city
and the necropolis in the south is the Wely Neby Seidtin, called
by the Jews the tomb of Zebulon. In the Arabic name of this
place the name of the ancient city has been preserved more
accurately than in that of the modern town. Beyond the
necropolis is a grotto, now a chapel of St. Mary, which in ancient
times may have been a sanctuary of Astart. About half a mile
farther south, near the village Maghduseh, is a cavern called
Magharet-al-Makdtira, which may have served similar purposes.
The site of another Phoenician temple is marked by the Maronite
chapel of Mdr Elyds, southeast of the city. 3 In the neighbor-
hood of the town are several modern cemeteries; the largest of
these is a Mohammedan burying place in the east. An ancient
aqueduct approaches the city from the same direction; beyond
the gardens it turns northward, and later again toward the east.
By means of this aqueduct drinking water was brought into the
city from the springs on the hills beyond the plain. 4

Whoever attempts to determine the topography of the ancient
city encounters serious obstacles, which arise chiefly from the
fact that the present town is not the direct continuation of the
ancient Sidon. 5 The history of the former begins at the close of the
period of the Crusades; and the topographical data supplied by
earlier writers are very few. The excavations also, which thus far
have been confined very largely to the burying places, have
yielded little information. However, there can be no doubt

1 Renan, Mission, p. 414; cp. 503, 504. 2 Below, p. 148ff.

3 Perhaps a temple of Esmun ; see below, p. 8, n. 5.

4 Z. D. M. (?., VII, 39; cp. Renan, pi. LXVI.

5 Renan says, p. 362, "Until the discovery of the great necropolis situated
near Magharet Abl&n, in 1855, we could say that the ancient Sidon, mother of
Canaan, had completely disappeared." Volney, Voyage en Syrie et enEgypte,
II, p. 191, calls the present town a "degenerate offspring of ancient Sidon."

THE ENVIRONS OF SIDON 7

that the ancient city was much more extensive than the modern \
town. In the first place, the antiquities unearthed by excavators
have been found, not in the town, but in the gardens surrounding
it, an indication that these gardens flourish upon ancient ruins.
Then, there has been discovered, running in a southerly direction
from Sidon, a series of Roman milestones, erected in 198 A.D. 1 The
first of these, which marks the beginning of the measurements,
and so probably the centre of the city at the time, stands 730
metres east of the eastern wall of the present town. 2 We may
further assume that the necropolis in the south was immediately
outside of the city wall ; the same seems to be true of the necrop-
olis in the east. If so, the territory between the latter and the
present town must have been a part of the ancient city. If a
necropolis could be located in the north, the extent of the
ancient city in that direction also might be determined.
What the future may bring forth it is impossible to say; it is not
probable, however, that it will reveal a necropolis in the north.
On the other hand, recent excavations have shown that the
ancient city did extend much farther toward the north than the
modern town; indeed, as far as the Nahr-al-Auwaly. 3 On the
southern banks of this river have been unearthed the ruins of a
temple of E§mun, which was undoubtedly within the city proper.
The place where these ruins have been found is a little more than
1000 yards from the mouth of the river, c. 2900 yards north-
northeast of the northern gate of the present town, c. 2500 yards
from the southern limit of the necropolis of Ayaa, c. 4400 yards
from the tomb of Esmunazar, and c. 1200 yards north of the village
of al-Beramieh, where several anthropoid sarcophagi have been
discovered. 4 The walls of the temple itself form a rectangular
enclosure, about 197 feet from east to west, 144£ feet from north
to south. 5 The presence of a temple of Esmun in this place is in y

1 Renan, p. 374ff. ; cp. Quarterly Statement of Palestine Exploration Fund, 1874,
p. 199. J Renan, p. 362. 3 Cp. Dionysius, Orbis descriptio, 912, 913.

4 Berger, in Mem. de VAcad. des inscr. et belles lettres, XXXVII, 268, 269; cp.
Renan, pi. LXVI, No. 4.

5 P. E. F., 1903. p. 180.

8 TOPOGRAPHY OF SIDON

itself an evidence that the ancient city extended at one time
to the banks of the Nahr-al-Auwaly. In the ruins of this
temple have been found numerous inscriptions of Bod-astart,
v king of the Sidonians, 1 the contents of which point in the same
direction.

It is true that there is still much uncertainty concerning the
reading of some parts of these inscriptions; but nearly all scholars
agree that the king mentions in them several distinct sections of
the city of Sidon. 2 C. C. Torrey thinks 3 that Bod-astart means
to distinguish between three separate quarters. The principal
district, D* ]1)£, Sidon by the sea, covering approximately the
site of the present town; 4 the second, Df21 DDK', High
Heavens, denoting the extension toward the heights just back of
Sidon, including a strip of hill country extending as far north-
ward as the city itself extended; 5 the third, ^|KH JHN, the
district of Reseph, the quarter, in the nature of a suburb, extend-
ing toward the north and northeast as far as the Nahr-al-Auwaly.
Of the different interpretations of this part of the inscriptions,
that of Torrey is the most simple, and at the same time the most
satisfactory, and surely there is nothing improbable in it.
Why might not a city of antiquity, as prominent and prosperous
as was Sidon for many centuries, have extended for several miles
along the coast of the sea?

The inscriptions of Bod Astart and Esmunazar do not take us
beyond the third century, or the last years of the fourth century
B.C., 6 but what is true of the extent of the city rebuilt after the
destruction of Sidon by Artaxerxes Ochus, 7 is true also of the

1 See below, p. 143.

J For a more detailed discussion of these inscriptions see below, p. 143ff.

3 J. A.O. S., XXIII, p. 156ff.

* Cp. Esmunazar Inscr., II. 16, 18, D" 1 p* |"Wi Sidon, the district of the sea;
also C. I. S., I, No. 4, I. 5, as restored by Torrey, p. 170; see also Z. D. M. G.,
XIX, p. 537, D" 1 y~M, the district of the sea.

1 Cp. Esmunazar Inscr., II. 16, 17, DT1N ODt?, to which a similar meaning may
be given. Clermont-Ganneau locates DD1 DOP in the northeast toward the
temple of Esmun, OT1K DOt? in the southeast toward the modern Mar Ely&s;
Rec. d'arch. orient., V, pp. 298, 299. 8 Below, p. 15L 7 Below, p. 65ff.

EXTENT OF THE ANCIENT CITY 9

city which became thesuccessor of "Esarhaddonsburg." 1 On the
other hand, a very important section of the city destroyed by
Esarhaddon seems to have been situated upon an island, 2 for
he calls himself "the conqueror of Sidon, which is in the midst
of the sea, the overthrower of its dwellings; its walls and its
houses I tore down and threw them in the sea, and destroyed its
site." 3 This island may have contained the palace of the king
and fortifications of various kinds; 4 but the limited area of the
islands, even of the largest, or of all the islands combined, makes
it impossible to believe that in the days of Esarhaddon the
entire city of Sidon, which at that time was an important com-
mercial centre and had been such for centuries, was located
upon these islands. There was, as in the case of Tyre, a city
upon the mainland. How far inland and how far north and
south this city extended it is difficult to say, and cannot be
determined until further excavations throw additional light
upon the early history of the city; nevertheless, it cannot be
doubted that it was a city of considerable size in the days of
Esarhaddon. This distinction between the island Sidon and
the mainland Sidon is suggested in the inscription of Sennacherib
quoted below. 5 Nothing is known concerning the topography of
the city during the earlier period. 8

1 Or "fortress of Esarhaddon," Kar-Aiur-ahe-iddin-na; below, p. 53.

3 Which one it may be impossible to say ; perhaps the rocky island facing the
northern harbor. If at one time the rocky peninsula facing the southern
harbor was an island it also may have contained some of the buildings.

' For the full account see below, p. 53.

* Remains of fortifications are seen on several of the islands bordering the
harbor of Sidon.

• See below, p. 51. Cp. also Josh. 11 : 8; 19 : 28.

' But see chapters II, III, and Division II, chapter I.

10 THE NAME SIDON

CHAPTER II

THE NAME SIDON

The city whose history is sketched in the succeeding chapters
bears in the Phoenician inscriptions the name pV; 1 in the Old
Testament, with the vowel letters, flT^ 2 or p'¥; 3 in the
Assyrian inscriptions, including the Tel-el-Amarna tablets,
Si-du-un-nu* or Si-du-nu, 5 or Zi-du-naf once, in a letter
addressed by the Pharaoh to Aziru, Zi-tu-na. 1 The Greek
writers reproduce this by ZtdtAv, the Latin by Sidon and Sidonia.
The Arabic name of the modern town is ! J^yo.

According to the mythological notions of the Phoenicians as
preserved by later writers, this name is derived from the proper
nouns Sidos or Side, the names of ancient mythological figures.
Eustathius declares 8 that Sidon was built by Belus 9 and named
after his daughter Side. A variation of this myth is preserved
by several Greek writers. They displace Side by Sidos, the
•son of iEgyptos, who is said to have built Sidon and named it
after Sidos. 10 This latter explanation resembles somewhat the
Biblical tradition, "And Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn/' 11
which connects the city and its name with an individual named
Sidon. 12

These mythological attempts to furnish an etymology of the
city-name Sidon cannot be accepted as correct; and as a matter

1 E.g., the Inscription of Bod-A§tart, 11. 2, 3; see below, p. 144.

2 Jdg. 10 : 6; 2 S. 24 : 6, etc. 8 Gen. 49 : 13; 1 Chr. 1 : 13.
4 Taylor Cyl., II, 35. 6 B. 48, I. 71. B B. 54, I. 21.

7 B. 92, I. 12. This peculiar spelling is due undoubtedly to the fact that the
writer was not a Semite.

8 Com. on Dionys., 912, 913.

• Cp. Virgil, An., I, 619-622.

10 Malala, Chron., ed. Dindorf, p. 58; Glycas, Annal., ed. Bekker, p. 255; Joel,
Chronogr. comp., ed. Bekker, p. 8.

11 Gen. 10 : 15. « Cp. Josephus, Ant., I, 6, 2.

POPULAR ETYMOLOGIES 11

of fact, from very early times it has become customary to give
an entirely different explanation of the word. Justin declares 1
that Sidon is named for the abundance of fish, ' ' for the Phoeni-
cians call the fish sidon. ' ' Following this etymology, the name
should be translated "fish," or perhaps better, "fishing" or
""fish-town." 2 Since the days of Justin this explanation has
been repeated over and over again, until very few think it worth
while to inquire whether or not the traditional etymology is
correct, 3 and it is only within very recent times that doubts
have been raised. 4 In discussing the question, the following
noteworthy facts should be borne in mind: (1) The earliest
reference to this etymology is in the writings of Justin, i.e.,
not earlier than the first century A.D., and perhaps as late as
the fourth century. This means that enough time had elapsed
since the founding of the city to make possible the substitution
of a fanciful interpretation for the right one, which had been for-
gotten in the course of the centuries. (2) There is an inaccuracy
in Justin's etymology. His words are, ' ' nam piscem Phcenices
sidon appellant, ' ' but p¥ does not mean fish in Phoenician. Can
the testimony of a writer whose knowledge of the Phoenician
language was so limited be accepted as conclusive? (3) It is
a well-known fact that the ancients indulged their fancies in
supplying etymologies for names of places and persons. 5 (4)
Many ancient Semitic place or tribal names are closely con-
nected with names of deities. 6

But the question of correctness or incorrectness once raised,
the popular etymology is seen to be not without difficulties.

1 Historice Philippicce, XVIII, 3; cp. also Isidorus Hispaniensis, Etymologic,
XV, I, 28. 2 Cp. Beth-saida, Matt. 11 : 21 ; Mk. 6 : 45, etc.

8 Movers accepts the above given etymology, but, it would seem, with some
misgivings; Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 86, n. 8.

4 Winckler, AUorientalische Forschungen, I, p. 436 ; Ed. Meyer, in Encyc. Bibl.,
art. Sidon; Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d'archeologie orientale, I, p. 190.

5 One need but mention a few illustrations from the Old Testament, e.g.,
Babel, Gen. 11:9; Jacob, Gen. 25 : 26 ; etc. Cp. Gunkel, The Legends of Genesis,
p. 27.

8 Cp. Asur, Gad, Edom, etc.

12 THE NAME SIDON

(1) The root 11¥, to which p¥, if interpreted "fishing" or
' ' fish-town, ' ' must be traced, means in Hebrew to hunt animals:
or birds, and in this sense it is used literally and figuratively;
nowhere in the Old Testament is it used with the meaning to
fish. The same is true in Assyrian. 1 Only in Aramaic has the
root the meaning to fish. This being the case, the history of the
Semitic languages would favor the conclusion that the Hebrew
and the Assyrian have preserved the original meaning of the
root, and that the Aramaic marks a later development. If so r
it is only natural to assume that in early Phoenician also the
root had the meaning to hunt. If this assumption is correct,
as it seems to be, p¥ cannot be derived from T)¥ with
the meaning ' ' fish " or " fishing ' ' or " fish-town. " At a later
time, when Aramaic had taken the place of Hebrew as the
language of the people, and was therefore known more widely,
it was quite easy to connect the name of a city whose inhabitants
were fishermen with the verb "Il¥, meaning at that time to
fish, and thus supply an etymology unwarranted by usage at an
earlier period. (2) To this objection Winckler adds another/
If the popular etymology is correct, the city should have a name
that might be interpreted like Beth-saida, "house of fishing" or
' ' place of fishing ' ' ; but to express this idea the Semitic languages
prefer a different formation. We would expect a word with the
prefix D, T¥D, or something similar, but not a noun ending in \\ s
These considerations cast enough doubt on the commonly
received interpretation to raise the question, whether or not a
more satisfactory etymology can be found. To the present
writer it seems that this question must be answered in the affirma-
tive, and that the right solution is offered by the Phoenician
religion. There was in the Phoenician pantheon a deity "TV,

1 Delitzsch, Ass. Handworterbuch, "P¥; in Arabic the verb is used in some of
the stems with the meaning to fish; but the primary meaning in that language
also is to hunt; Wahrmund, Handworterbuch, under root Juyd.

' Altorientalische Forschungen, I, p. 437.

3 Cp. Gesenius-Kautzsch, Hebrew Grammar, translated by Collins and
Cowley, 86b.

SIDON THE CITY OF SID 13

Though we have no means of determining the proper pronun-
ciation of this name, there is nothing to make it improbable that
it was pronounced "TV or ""!¥• True, there are no traces of
the worship of this deity in Sidon, but it occurs as an element
in Phoenician proper names in the place where one would expect
the name of a deity, 1 and it is found in the combinations
JTIp'WlV 2 and DJmV, 3 where again it can be explained
only as a divine name; and there can be no doubt that "IV
denotes a deity worshiped independently at one time by the
Phoenicians.

But how can this god be connected with pV ? Nowhere, appa-
rently, does he appear as a deity of prominence. The chief
deities of Sidon were HID^ and JO^N. 4 The former is a
deity found in some form in all Semitic religions, 5 the latter
is peculiar to the Phoenicians, though he also may have his
counterpart in the Babylonian-Assyrian pantheon. 8 "IV is
found nowhere outside of Phoenicia and the Phoenician "col-
onies," and there is nothing to indicate that in origin he is a
Semitic deity. This being so, may we not assume that he, and
perhaps other deities whose names may yet be discovered, is
an inheritance from the pre-Phoenician inhabitants of the
Mediterranean coast? 7 There are in the Sidonian pantheon
deities adopted from Babylonia-Assyria, from Egypt, from
Greece; 8 is there anything more natural than that we should
find also some who were taken over from the predecessors of
the Phoenicians along the Mediterranean coast?

On the site of the later Phoenician city of Sidon, or perhaps,
more accurately, upon an island facing the promontory on
which the present town is situated, the Phoenicians may have
found on their arrival a sanctuary dedicated to IV, and a set-
tlement whose tutelary deity was "IV, and which was named
in honor of its deity j(l)*lV — belonging to "TV = city of IV. 9 It

1 C. I. S., 1, 102a, 292. 2 C. I. S., I, 256. 3 C. I. S., I, 247-249.

* See below, p. 126. 5 See below, p. 127 . • See below, p. 126.

7 See below, p. 30. 8 See below, p. 126.

9 Gesenius-Kautzsch, Hebrew Grammar, 86g.

14 THE NAME SIDON

is not improbable that there had grown up also on the opposite
shore a village or town which, even in that early period, bore
the same name. 1

That "!X is mentioned so few times may be due either to the
fact that comparatively few inscriptions have been found, or,,
as seems more probable, to the fact that in time the non-Semitic
deity was swallowed up by one or, as different sections preferred
different deities, by several Semitic deities brought into the
land by the Phoenicians. 2 At any rate, at a later time the
connection of p¥ with "l¥ was forgotten, and popular
fancy was appealed to to supply a suitable etymology. It is
this etymology that is found in the traditions mentioned. This
etymology also may be responsible for the introduction of
between the first two radicals in the Hebrew form of the name.
From this fuller form with * is derived the Arabic name of the
modern town !Joyo, as well as the name given to the
city by the Occidental pilgrims and writers of the Middle Ages,
Sageta, or Sagitta, or Sajetta, or Sajette, etc. There is undoubt-
edly some connection also between the name Sagitta and the
Latin sagitta = arrow. The latter appears to have been the
emblem of Sidon during the Crusades, for the coins of the
Crusaders struck in Sidon bear the representation of this
emblematic arrow. 3

The use of the name p¥ and the gentilic name \3"T¥, pL
UYV£, is not confined to the city or to the inhabitants of the
city. In a wider sense they are applied frequently to large
portions of Phoenicia, and sometimes to the whole of Phoenicia
and its inhabitants. 4

A comparison of p¥= /Sidon with ")V=7 7 yre raises the
interesting question why in the one case the emphatic sibilant has
been retained, while in the other it has been transformed into a
dental. The change must have been introduced by the Greeks,.

1 See further the next chapter.

1 The transfer of the supremacy in the Babylonian pantheon to Marduk is
similar in principle.

3 Rec. d'arch. or., Ill, p. 131. ' See further next chapter

SIDON AND TYRE 15

from whom it passed to the Latin writers of the classical period;
the old Latin has preserved the S in the noun Sarra (Tyre), and
in the adjective sarranus. The reason for this may have been that
the Sidonians came frequently into contact with the Greeks, 1 so
that the latter heard from the lips of the former the proper
pronunciation of the name Sidon. The same may not have
been true of Tyre, which is first mentioned by Herodotus, and
it is not impossible that he became familiar with the name in
Egypt; at any rate, the Greek T6p<>$ corresponds to the Egyp-
tian reproduction of *1¥, so that the perverted form of the
name may have come into Greece by way of Egypt. 2

1 See below, p. 64.

2 Krall, Tyros und Sidon, in Sitzungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen
Klasse der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Vol. 116,
pp. 692-694. The Arabic historian Yakut, c. 1225, has left a note that
by some the city was called Irbil (I, 189). The origin of this designation
is unknown, but the name may be compared with the Assyrian Arba-ilu, the
name of one of the cities in which Istar was worshiped. As AStart corre-
sponds to Istar, so Irbil, the city of Astart, would correspond to Arba-ilu, the
city of Istar. With this may be compared px = ]1'N in Am. 1 : 5, which may
be the same as the name of the Egyptian city }iN in Gen. 41 : 45, 50;
46 : 20; see Eiselen, Commentary on the Minor Prophets, New York, 1907, on
Am. 1 : 5.

16 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE ?

CHAPTER III

IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE?

It has been customary to look upon Sidon as the oldest city
of Phoenicia, 1 or at least of the southern portion of Phoenicia. 2
The statements of Strabo 3 and others, that Tyre is the oldest city
of the Phoenicians, and of Herodotus, 4 placing the founding of
Tyre at about 2750 B.C., have been harmonized with this view
by assuming that these traditions refer, not to the founding of
the city, but to the fiist appearance of men upon the site of the
later Tyre. Support for this explanation has been found in the
statements of Josephus, 5 that Tyre was built 240 years before
the building of the Temple, and of Justin, 6 that Tyre was founded
by the Sidonians, which have been interpreted of a second
' ' founding, ' ' thought to mark the origin of Tyre as a city. 7 ' ' The
first settlement upon the island Tyre," says Movers, "was,
according to a definite statement, 8 a depot for merchandise, and
therefore had a purpose and character entirely different from
that of the settlement made by the Sidonians in connection
with the Philistian War. Mythology also knows Tyre at first
as a sanctuary and only later as a city, and distinguishes thus
a twofold founding. According to Herodotus also, the Tyrian
priests .... date the interval of 2300 years not from the
building of the city, but from the time when the island was
first inhabited." 9

1 Rawlinson, The Story of Phoenicia, p. 46.

2 Movers, Die Phbnizier, II, 1, p. 257.

3 XVI, 2, 22 ; cp. Dionysius, Orbis descriptio, 91 1 ; Virgil, Mn., IV, 670 ; Curtius,
Historia Alexandri Magni, IV, 4, 19. 4 Historia, II, 44.

5 Ant., VIII, 3, 1. 6 Historiae Philippicae, XVIII, 3.

7 Movers, II, 1, pp. 118ff., 166ff.

8 Pomponius Sabinus, ad. Mn., I, 12. "Phcenices condiderunt Tyrum in
mari propter merces, primi mortalium negotiatores in marina alea.

» IT, 1, p. 169.

SIDON THE OLDEST CITY OF PHOENICIA 17

This quotation from Movers expresses accurately the view
held until quite recently by practically all historians, that the
city of Sidon is older than the city of Tyre; indeed, that it is
the oldest city in southern Phoenicia. The arguments in favor
of this view are chiefly twofold: 1. The mention in the Old
Testament of Sidon as the firstborn of Canaan. 1 2. The peculiar
usage of the terms Sidon and Sidonians in the Old Testament
and in Greek writings. To these may be added, though of
secondary importance: 3. The statements of Justin and
Josephus, already alluded to, and 4. The contention found on
Sidonian coins that Sidon is the metropolis (literally, the mother)
of Tyre. 2

The mention of Sidon as the firstborn of Canaan may be con-
sidered first. As long as Gen. 1-11 could be regarded as his-
torically and scientifically accurate documents, as long as it was
thought that Gen. 10 gave a truly scientific view of the distribu-
tion of the human race, written in the fifteenth century B.C., 3
the statement in Gen. 10 : 15 could be considered as conclusive.
But the modern view, which considers the chapter the product of
a much later age, reflecting the geographical relation of the
nations around the Mediterranean at the time of its writing,
robs the statement of much of its value for the earlier period.
All that can be inferred from the statement is that in the days
of the author the city or state of Sidon 4 occupied, in the thought
of the author, a more prominent position than any of the other
sons of Canaan named in vv. 15-20; but this falls far short of
establishing the claim that the city Sidon was the oldest city in
Phoenicia.

The second argument rests upon the usage of the terms Sidon
and Sidonians. Here it must be admitted that in individual
cases it is not always easy to determine the exact force of the

1 Gen. 10 : 15; cp. Josephus, Ant., I, 6, 2.

2 Gesenius, Monumenta, p. 264ff. ; Schroder, Die phon. Sprache, p. 275;
Muller, Vier sidonische Milnzen, in Sitzungs-Berichte der Wiener Akademie der
Wissenschaften, XXXV, pp. 33-50.

3 Movers, Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 89; cp. p. 257. * See below.

18 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE?

two terms. However, there can be no doubt that the words
are used both in a narrow sense, of the city itself and its inhabi-
tants, and in a wider sense, including other portions of Phoenicia
and their inhabitants. This usage of the names in the wider
sense, it is pointed out, is very early, 1 and therefore indicates the
presence in remote antiquity of an historical situation in which
Sidon was powerful enough to impose her rule and her name
upon large districts outside of the city. Now, since in some
cases the terms seem to include Tyre and the Tyrians, and since
the city of Tyre is not mentioned until a much later period, 2
the usage clearly shows that the superiority in the beginning
was with Sidon. The case becomes even stronger, the argument
continues, and the greater antiquity of Sidon is placed beyond
doubt when it is seen that the term Sidonian is practically
equivalent to Phoenician.

In the Old Testament the terms Sidon and Sidonians occur in
thirty-eight passages. 3 Of these only few refer to the city, 4
and of these probably not one is older than the seventh century
B.C., when the city did occupy a prominent place; but testi-
mony concerning the condition of the city in the seventh century
and later is of little or of no value for a period a thousand years or
more earlier. Indeed, it would seem that not until the time of
the Chronicler 5 did the term Sidonian come to be restricted to
the inhabitants of the city; before that time it was equivalent
to Phoenician. 6 To denote the inhabitants of the city the
phrase p¥ *3SW was used. 7

1 Again Biblical passages assumed to be very early form the principal argu-
ment. 3 The earliest passage, according to this view, is 2 S. 5 : 11.

3 Gen. 10 : 15, 19; 49 :13;Dt. 3 : 9; Josh. 11 :8;13 :4,6;19 :28;Jdg. 1 : 31;
3:3; 10 : 6, 12; 18 :7 (twice); 18 :28; 2 S. 24 : 6; 1 K. 5 : 20; 11 : 1,5, 33;
16 :31; 17 :9;2K. 23 : 13; Is. 23 : 2, 4, 12; Jer. 25 : 22; 27 : 3; 47 : 4; Ez. 27 :
8; 28 :21,22; 32 : 30; Joel 4 :4;Zech.9 : 2; 1 Chr. 1 : 13; 22 : 4; Ezra 3 : 7.

4 Josh. 11 :8;19 :28;Jdg. 1 : 31; Is. 23 : 2, 4, 12; Jer. 25 :22;27 :3;47 :4;
Ez.27 :8;28 : 21, 22; 32 : 30; Joel 4 :4;Zech.9 : 2; 1 Chr. 22 : 4; Ezra 3 : 7.

»1 Chr. 22 : 4; Ezra 3 : 7.

•Jdg. 10 : 12; 18 :7; 1 K. 11 : 1,5, 33; 16 :31;2 K. 23 : 13; Ez. 32, 30, cp.
also C. I. S., I, 5.
7 Jdg. 1, 31; Ez. 27 : 8. On the whole, the references in the historical

SIDON AND SIDONIAN 19

Homer is another writer who uses the words very frequently,
if not exclusively, with the wider meaning. In II. VI, 290,
"Sidonian women" is undoubtedly equivalent to Phoenician
women; 1 in 11. XXIII, 743, 744, Sidonian and Phoenician occur
in parallel lines, and are to be understood as synonyms. Od.,
IV, 617, 618, mention Phsedimus, king of the Sidonians. 2 On
first sight Od., XIII, 285, appears to refer to the city, but an
ancient scholion on this passage reads Ztdovt-rjv, r^ t?;? ZiS&vos
xupav, ttjv <Povw7]<y ) 3 compare also XIII, 272, "the proud
Phoenicians. ' ' In XIV, 288ff. he uses the terms Phoenician and
Phoenicia; so also XV, 415ff.; the Phoenician woman of I. 417 is
in 424 said to be of Sidon. IV, 83 mentions Phoenicia; I. 84
the Sidonians, not as a distinct people, but as the inhabitants
of the former. In every passage in Homer Siclon or Sidonian
may be interpreted in the wider sense.

books of the Old Testament throw very little light on the history of the
city of Sidon. According to Gen. 10 : 19, Sidon ( = Phoenicia) marked the
northern boundary of Canaan; according to 49 : 3 the boundary of Zebulon.
Deut. 3 : 9 contains an allusion to the dialect of the Sidonians (= Phoenicians).
Josh. 11 : 8 mentions "great Sidon" as the place to which Joshua chased the
Canaanites. In 19 : 28 " great Sidon ' ' is named again, this time as the bound-
ary of Asher. In 13 : 4 occurs the expression "Mearah, that is beside the
Sidonians." Though the Giblites are named in the same passage, Sidonians
seems to be used in the wider sense. In 13 : 6 Yahweh promises to drive out
the Sidonians (= Phoenicians). Jdg. 1 : 31 states that Asher did not drive out
the inhabitants of Sidon. Here the reference is possibly to the city. Not
so in 3 : 3 ; the Sidonians ( = Phoenicians) were left to prove the Israelites, and
to teach them war. In all the other passages in the Book of Judges the refer-
ence is to Phoenicians ; 10:6, the children of Israel served the gods of
Sidon; 10 : 12, the Sidonians oppressed Israel; 18 : 17, the people of Laish
dwelt carelessly after the manner of the Sidonians .... they were far from
the Sidonians ; 18 : 28, Laish was far from Sidon. In 2 S. 24 : 6 the reference
may be to the city. The numbering of the people was made to the neighbor-
hood of Sidon. The author of Kings uses the terms in the wider sense. In

1 K. 11 : 1, "women of the Sidonians" is equivalent to "Phoenician women" ;
11 : 5 calls Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians (= Phoenicians); cp. v. 33;

2 K. 23 : 13. 1 K. 17 : 9 mentions Zarephath as a city belonging to Sidon
(= Phoenicia). Other passages in the historical books are considered
below, p. 42.

'Cp. IK. 11:1. 2 Cp. Od.,XV. 117.

3 Quoted by Movers, Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 94.

20 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE?

The same usage is found in later Greek and Latin writers.
The Septuagint reproduces J1TV in Is. 23 : 2, by Qowixi), DWVin
Dt. 3 : 9 by tfWwxe?; Pliny calls the Mediterranean Phcenicium
Mare, 1 Dionysius 2 and Eustathius, 3 Ztdovia 6al*a<ta. On the
same principle must be explained the interchange of Tyre and
Sidon; Tyre is the city, Sidon is equivalent to Phoenicia, the land.
Cadmus, for example, is frequently called a Tyrian, 4 at other times
a Sidonian; 5 purple is called, now Tyrian, 8 now Sidonian. 7 Here
must be reckoned also Tyria vestis* and Sidonia vestis;* Tyria
chlamys 10 and Sidonia chlamys; 11 Tyria palla 12 and Sidonia palla. ls

In the presence of this testimony there is no room for doubting
that Sidon and Sidonian are very comprehensive terms, includ-
ing at times Tyre, 14 at other times the whole of Phoenicia. 15
Does it demonstrate also that Sidon is the oldest city of the
Phoenicians, more prominent politically than Tyre during the
second millennium B.C., and that this political supremacy
explains the wider use of the term?

Let it be admitted immediately that, in the absense of contra-
dictory evidence, this would be a possible explanation of the
twofold use of the terms. However, there are certain historical
considerations, and the statements of a few Greek writers, which
seem to point in a different direction. Unfortunately, thus far
no Phoenician documents antedating the Tel-el-Amarna period
have been brought to light; therefore we are dependent upon

1 Historia naturalis, IX, 12. 2 Orbis descriptio, I. 117.

3 Com. on Dion., I. 117.

4 Euripides, Phcenissae, 647, 48; Statius, Theb., VII, 889. Ovid, Met., II,
844, 45; III, 35, 36, 539. Fasti, I, 489, 90; V, 605, 6.

"Euripides, Bacch., 1025; Ovid, Met., Ill, 129; Ex Ponto, I, 377; Seneca,
(Edip., 710, 711 ; cp. also Virgil, Mn., I, 446, 613; Statius, Silvae, IV, 2, 1.
8 Mn., IV, 262; Horatius, Epod., XII, 21 ; Tibullus, II, El., 4, 28.

7 Tibullus, III, EL, 3, 18 ; Apollinaris Sidonius, Carm., XV, 128.

8 Tibullus, I, El, 7, 47. 9 Propertius, II, 13, 55 (edit. Burm.).
10 Ovid, Met., V, 51. n Virgil, Mn., IV, 137.
a Tibullus, IV, Carm., 2, 11. 13 Propertius, IV, 9, 47.
14 Cp. also Nonnus, Dionysiaca, XLI, 40.

"Suidas, Lexicon, s.v. Ztddviog, 4>oZwf; Hesychius, Lexicon, s.v. 'Li66viol !

TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY 21

the contemporaneous records of foreign nations for reliable in-
formation concerning early events.

The early Egyptian records mentioning Tyre and Sidon by
name are very few, but what weight they do have they cast in
the balance against the greater antiquity of Sidon and its early
political preeminence over Tyre. This is admitted even by
Meltzer, who still adheres to the common view. ''It must be
noted," says he, 1 "that the Egyptian sources, so far as they
are known to us, have yielded up to the present no support
whatever for the theory indicated. 2 If one would draw inferences
from their remarks concerning political preeminence, he must
conclude that Arados occupied first place; then perhaps Tyre.
Byblos is not even mentioned by name. Sidon is also mentioned
only occasionally, and then without reference to the political
situation. ' '

The first mention of Sidon appears in Papyrus Anastasi I, of
the thirteenth century B.C., which describes the voyage of an
Egyptian into Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine. In this narrative
Sidon is cited incidentally along with several other cities
which, it would seem, the writer considered of little interest to
the reader. More attention is given to Tyre, of which he says
that it is a "city in the sea, harbor-Tyre is her name. Water
is brought to her in ships. She has greater abundance of fish
than of sand. ' ' 3 Some think that these words imply the exist-
ence of both the mainland Tyre and the island Tyre. 4 There
are two other early records mentioning Tyre, while Sidon does
not occur again. Seti I (1313-1292) names Tyre among his
conquests, and on the reverse side of Papyrus Anastasi HI,
dated in the third year of Merneptah, mention is made of a
letter addressed to the king of Tyre. The names of the Phoeni-
cian cities in the north are found more frequently; hence Krall

1 Geschichte der Karthager, I, p. 20.

2 The theory stated in the beginning of this chapter.

3 W. M. Miiller, Asien und Europa, p. 185.

4 So. Krall, Tyros und Sidon, p. 637. It is questioned by Jeremias, Tijrus
bis zur Zeit Nebukadnezars, p. 13.

22 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE?

seems justified in saying: "Judging from the Egyptian inscrip-
tions, the most important Phoenician cities of this period — of the
Thutmosites — are the north-Phoenician cities Byblos and Arados.
The existence of Tyre cannot be established with certainty from
the inscriptions belonging to the period of the Thutmosites. On
the other hand, under the Ramessides, and that as early as Seti
I, it stands out prominently; in the time of Merneptah is men-
tioned a king of Tyre whose territory was hardly limited to the
city of Tyre itself. As early as the time of the Ramessides
existed the so-called island Tyrus by the side of Palsetyrus. As
compared with Tyre, the other Phoenician cities occupy a second-
ary position. Finally, the city of Sidon plays no role whatever
in the Egyptian inscriptions. Only once — if the middle group
is rightly restored 1 — is she named in the Papyrus Anastasi I,
of the period of the Ramessides. Of a powerful position of
Sidon, even in the period of the Ramessides, it is not possible to
speak on the basis of the results obtained thus far. It must
belong after 1200 B.C.; how much later other sources must
teach us. ' ' 2

In the same direction points the testimony of the Tel-el-
Amarna tablets. The collection contains two letters written by
Zimrida, king of Sidon. 3 In several other letters — seven written
by Rib-addi, king of Gebal, 4 seven by Abi-milki, of Tyre, 5 one
by Abd-asirta, the governor of the land of the Amorites, 6 and
one by the Pharaoh, addressed to Aziru, the son of Abd-asirta 7 —
Sidon is accused of treachery against Egypt and her loyal vassals.
In these letters also, reflecting conditions about the year 1400 B.C.,
there is not the slightest indication of the political superiority of

1 Of the sign group denoting the city.

2 Tyrus und Sidon, pp. 641, 642. This conclusion of Krall is accepted also
by Jeremias, pp. 16, 17.

3 B. 90 and B. 182. In the references to the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence
B. stands for Berlin, L. for London. The former denotes the letters in the
Royal Museum in Berlin, the latter those in the British Museum. The num-
bers are those given by Winckler, in Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Vol. V,
passim. * B. 43, 48, 50, 54, 77. L. 13, 14.

8 L. 28, 29, 30, 31 ; B. 99, 162, 231. 9 L. 44. 7 B. 92.

TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY 23

Sidon; on the contrary, Tyre seems to occupy the more promi-
nent position. To this contemporaneous evidence may be
added the testimony of later writers. The author of Isaiah 23
calls Tyre a city "whose antiquity is of ancient days"; 1 Herod-
otus places the founding of Tyre at c. 2750 B.C., 2 which is a
date much earlier than can be established for Sidon; Strabo 3
calls Tyre the most ancient city of the Phoenicians; Eunapius,
the first city of the ancient Phoenicians; 4 similarly Virgil, 5
Curtius, 6 and Orosius. 7 The legends and myths of Phoenicia
favor the same conclusion. This is admitted even by Movers,
for he says : " In the Phoenician legends concerning the earliest
times nothing is said of Sidon. The mythical history of San-
chuniathon, which records the founding of the oldest cities
during the second mythological era, does not know Sidon in
that period; only Byblos, Beyrut, and Tyre appear as the seat
of the most ancient culture; and while to these cities were
attached local myths in great numbers — a sure sign of the very
high antiquity of these cities — Sidon seems to have been sur-
prisingly poor in myths." 8 Tradition credits Tyre with the
invention of ships, 9 of purple, 10 and with the earliest cultivation
of vine and wheat. 11

In view of this great mass of evidence it seems necessary to
find an explanation of the peculiar usage of Sidon and Sidonian
which is in accord with the practically unanimous opinion of
antiquity that Tyre was a city of prominence before Sidon. At
any rate, the usage of the terms cannot be considered a con-
clusive argument in favor of the earlier supremacy and greater
antiquity of Sidon. 12

The third argument rests upon the statements of Justin and

I v. 7. 2 Historia, II, 44. 3 Geographica, XVI, 2, 22.
4 Vita Porphyrii, opening sentence. 5 Mn., IV, 670.
6 Historia Alexandri Magni, IV, 4, 19. 7 Historia, III, 16.

8 Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 254.

9 Nonnus, Dionysiaca, XL, 501ff. Tibullus, I, EL, 7, 20.

10 Eustathius, Com. ad. Dionysium, 911. Malala, p. 32 (ed. Dindorf).

II Achilles Tatius, II, 2 ; William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus trans-
marinis gestarum, XIII, 1. n See further, p. 30ff.

24 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE ?

Josephus. The latter asserts, on what authority is not known,
that Tyre was founded 240 years before the building of the
Temple; 1 the former has preserved a tradition that the Sidonians
founded the island Tyre one year before the destruction of
Troy, after they had suffered a serious defeat at the hands of
the king of Ascalon. 2 When the chronological notes of the two
authors are compared, it is found that they point to the same
general period, a fact which would seem to add weight to the tra-
ditions. According to Josephus, 143 years and 8 months elapsed
between the building of the Temple and the founding of Car-
thage. 3 If the latter is placed, as is commonly done, about the
middle of the ninth century B.C., 4 the alleged date of the found-
ing of Tyre would be near the traditional date of the capture of
Troy.

That these traditions embody memories of actual historical
events affecting the fortunes of Tyre and Sidon cannot be
doubted; on the other hand, the evidence presented in reply to
the second argument makes it equally certain that Tyre was a
city of prominence long before 1200 B.C., and, perhaps, that both
the island and the mainland Tyre were in existence at that time.
Consequently the traditions cannot be interpreted as implying
a founding of Tyre, in any sense of that term. The historical
fact underlying the tradition is the migration, at some period
of Phoenician history, of a considerable number of Sidonians to
Tyre, which migration resulted in the infusion of new life and
energy into the latter. This event will be considered in another
connection; 5 here it may be sufficient to state that, when inter-
preted in the light of trustworthy historical information, the
tradition offers not the least support to the theory that the city
of Sidon is older than the city of Tyre.

One other argument remains, namely, the contention, found on
Sidonian coins of the period of the Ptolemies, that Sidon is

1 Ant., VIII, 3, 1. 2 Historiae Philippicce, XVIII, 3.

s Cont. Ap., I, 18. * But see below, p. llOff.

s Below, p. 41 and p. 55.

DID SIDON FOUND TYRE? 25-

the DN, the mother, or metropolis, of Tyre. 1 The expression
undoubtedly voices the claim of Sidon to be the founder of Tyre.
It should be noted, however, that Tyre set up the counter claim
that she was the mother of Sidon. 2 We are confronted, then,
with two contradictory claims; on the one hand, that Sidon
is the mother of Tyre, on the other, that Tyre is the founder of
Sidon. It is arbitrary to reject, without examination, one
claim and uphold the other. On the face of them, both have
equal value; which is to be preferred must be determined by
such considerations as have been presented in the preceding
pages. It must be remembered also that the coins are compara-
tively late, and that therefore caution must be exercised in the
use of their testimony for the earliest period. The great bulk of
testimony to which reference has been made discredits the claim
of Sidon; it also discredits the claim of Tyre, for there is no evi-
dence anywhere that Sidon was settled by the Tyrians. All
the evidence points to the conclusion that the coins reflect the
spirit of rivalry at a late period, when neither city enjoyed
supremacy over the other, but when each was anxious to be
recognized as supreme, and sought to strengthen its position by
arrogant claims. In the same manner must be interpreted
the more extravagant boasts that either Sidon 3 or Tyre 4 was
the mother of the whole of Phoenicia.

To sum up, the theory that Sidon is the oldest city of Phoenicia,
or that she is older than Tyre, and enjoyed political supremacy
long before Tyre became a city of prominence, cannot be estab-
lished by the arguments ordinarily advanced in its favor. They
are successfully contradicted by the contemporaneous docu-
ments of other nations, by the testimony of later writers, and by
the legends and myths of Phoenicia itself. While these do not

1 See below, p. 111.

2 See Gesenius, Monumenta, pp. 261-64. Tabl., 34, I. Schroder, Die pho-
nizische Sprache, p. 275.

3 Achilles Tatius, I, 1.

4 Meleager of Tyre, in the epitaph of Antipater of Sidon, quoted by Movers,
II, 1, p. 3.

28 IS SIDON OLDER THAN TYRE?

fix the dates of the founding of either Sidon or Tyre, nor the
relation of the two cities to one another in the earliest times,
they do show that in antiquity Tyre was looked upon as the
older of the two, and that the earlier political preeminence was
with Tyre. 1

1 See further the next chapter, p. 30ff.

II. THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SIDON

CHAPTER I

THE FOUNDING OF SIDON

The Sidon of the inscriptions, of the Old Testament, and of the
classical writers was a city of the Phoenicians. From the myth-
ology of the Phoenicians, as preserved in the fragments of
Sanchuniathon's history, it would seem that the Phoenicians
considered themselves autochthonous in the land which they
occupied during the historical period. 1 The same idea is implied
in Gen. 10 : 15ff. On the other hand, the more important classi-
cal writers touching upon this subject assert that the Phoenicians
came to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean from southern
Babylonia. Herodotus says 2 that the Phoenicians as well as the
Persians believed that the original settlements of the former
were upon the Erythraean Sea, i.e., the Persian Gulf, and that
they migrated from there to their later home. Strabo relates 3
that the inhabitants of certain islands in the Persian Gulf pre-
served the same traditions, and that they had temples which
were Phoenician in character. 4 Justin describes 5 the early
wanderings of the Phoenicians in these words: "The Syrian
nation was founded by the Phoenicians, who, being disturbed
by an earthquake, left their native land and settled first of all
in the neighborhood of the Assyrian lake, 6 and subsequently

1 Cp. Movers, Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 25ff.

2 Historia, I, 1 ; VII, 89. 3 Geographica, XVI, 3, 4.
4 Clermont-Ganneau thinks, and perhaps rightly, that the introduction of the

Phoenician names and customs in southern Babylonia, here alluded to, is to be
connected with the transplanting of Phoenicians into these regions by
Esarhaddon; Journ. Asiatique, 1892, Vol. I, p. 118. See below, p. 53.

1 XVIII, 3; abbreviated from Trogus Pompeius.

6 Probably to be identified with the Persian Gulf.

27

28 THE FOUNDING OF SIDON

on the shore of the Mediterranean, where they built a city which
they called Sidon, on account of the abundance of fish, for the
Phoenicians call a fish sidon." 1

With thess statements of ancient writers agree the results of
modern research. "The majority of modern critics," says
Renan, 2 ' ' admit it as demonstrated that the primitive abode of
the Phoenicians should be placed near the lower Euphrates, in
th3 midst of the great commercial and maritime establishments
of the Persian Gulf, in accord with the unanimous (sic!) testi-
mony of all antiquity. ' ' If the Phoenicians were Semites, as is
universally admitted, there can be no doubt as to the correctness
of this view; for, whatever one may think about the cradle of
the human race or the original home of the Semites, 3 Arabia
must be regarded as the region from which were distributed the
different Semitic nations known to history. "All Semites are,
according to my conviction, successive deposits of Arabians,
They deposited themselves layer upon layer; and who knows
which layer — die wie vielte Schichte — for example, were the
Canaanites, whom we meet at the beginning of history." 4

In the course of time Arabia became overcrowded, and its
resources were not sufficient for the maintenance of the ever-
increasing population. As a result the inhabitants were com-
pelled to press out toward new districts which might offer more
adequate sustenance. The most inviting fields were in the
regions of the lower Euphrates and Tigris, near the head of
the Persian Gulf; hence these were occupied first. As new
groups pressed from behind, the early settlers found it necessary

1 Movers questions, though without sufficient reason, the reliability of these
reports, II, 1, p. 38ff. In the same place he mentions other ancient tradi-
tions concerning the origin of the Phoenicians, but these may be omitted here,

3 Histoire des Langues Semitiques, p. 183.

s For different opinions on these two points see G. A. Barton, A Sketch of
Semitic Origins, Chap. 1, "The Cradle of the Semites."

* Sprenger, Alte Geographie Arabiens, p. 293; cp. also Schrader, Die Abstam-
mung der Chaldaer und die Ursitze der Semiten, Z. D. M. G., XXVII, p.
397 ff. ; Wright, Comparative Grammar of the Semitic Languages, p. 8 ; McCurdy,
Hist., Proph., and the Monuments, § 20. Winckler, Gesch. Israels, I, 127.

THE PHCENICIAN MIGRATION 29

to move farther, and since from southern Babylonia there is
only one natural outlet, in a northwesterly direction between the
Euphrates and Tigris, they turned thither in search of new homes,
and finally advanced to the shores of the Mediterranean, whence
they proceeded to the islands and coast lands beyond. 1 In the
course of such wanderings all the western Semites, including
the Phoenicians, reached the lands where we find them during
the historical period. To mark clearly and definitely the begin-
ning and end of the separate migrations may be a difficult and
almost impossible task; nevertheless, broadly speaking, four
migrations of this character may be distinguished: the Baby-
lonian, beginning before 4000 B.C.; the Canaanitish-Phcenician,
beginning c. 2800 B.C.; the Aramaean, beginning c. 1600 B.C.;
and the Arabian, beginning c. 700 B.C. 2

The Phoenician migration, then, began c. 2800 B.C., and dur-
ing the years and generations and, perhaps, centuries following
the Phoenicians established themselves on the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean. It must not be thought, however, that they
found there a land uninhabited, or, if inhabited, filled with
uncivilized barbarians. If, as there seems no reason to doubt,
the Babylonians undertook, in the beginning of the fourth
millennium B.C., warlike expeditions against the nations living
then on the shores of the Mediterranean, and even crossed to
the islands and countries beyond, 3 who can doubt that a mil-
lennium later an extensive population occupied the country called
at a later time Phoenicia? ' ' Should, ' ' says Ed. Meyer, 4 ' ' the
Babylonian archives at any time give us any authentic informa-
tion regarding the expeditions of Sargon and Naram-Sin, we
may expect to find that there was in Phoenicia in the fourth
millennium a state of things more or less similar to what we find

1 See below, p. 110.

2 Winckler, Gesch. Israels, pp. 127, 128; Altorientalische Forschungen, I, p.
430ff. L. B. Paton, Early History of Syria and Palestine, passim.

9 Schrader, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, III, 1, p. 102ff. ; cp. Rogers, History
of Babylonia and Assyria, I, p. 365.
* Encycl. Bibl., art. Phoenicia.

30 THE FOUNDING OF SIDON

2000 years later when the Egyptians came to Asia. ' ' If this is
true, and certainly there is no evidence to the contrary, we must
assume that the Phoenicians came to a country that was in the
possession of a considerable degree of civilization and culture,,
and that would imply, on the part of the ancient inhabitants, a
recognition of the benefits of navigation and of the advantages
presented by such locations as were occupied by the later Tyre
and Sidon.

If Egypt and other nations had fleets before 3000 B.C., is it
not absurd to suppose that the pre-Phcenician inhabitants of
the eastern shore of the Mediterranean were blind to the advan-
tages of navigation and of excellent harbor facilities? To this
pre-Phcenician period, and to these pre-Phcenician inhabitants,
we must assign the founding of Sidon, of Tyre, and of other
settlements in the later Phoenicia. 1

When the Phoenicians reached the shore of the Mediterranean,,
they found there a settlement bearing the name p¥, in honor
of the god "IV. 2 This they made their first stopping place; how
long they remained there we cannot determine, perhaps a short
time only. During the early stages of the conquest this settle-
ment served as the religious and political centre of the new
population. In order to secure the good will of the tutelar
deity the Phoenicians adopted 1)S into their own pantheon, 3
and retained the ancient name of the town, p¥. From the
city the name was transferred to the people who considered it

1 It should be noted, however, that other prominent cities, like Tyre ="W =
rock, Beyrut = flnW = fountains, Gebal = ^3J «- mountain, have good
Semitic names. These may have had their origin with the Semitic con-
querors who changed the more ancient names; cp. Jdg. 18 : 29; 1 : 17.

2 See above, p. 13.

3 A similar phenomenon is presented by the worship of /VO 1^2 in
Shechem (Jdg. 8 : 33; 9 : 4), and by the constant tendency of Israel to wor-
ship the local Baals. That this tendency did not prevail in the end is due
solely to the persistent efforts of the Yahweh prophets. Another illustration
may be seen in the readiness with which Cyrus transferred his allegiance to
Marduk after the capture of the city of Babylon ; cp. Keilinschriftliche
Bibliothek, III, 2, p. 120ff.

THE OCCUPATION OF THE SEA COAST 31

their religious centre, and DJI^ became the name of the new-
Semitic immigrants. As the latter continued the conquest of
the country the name went with them, until the conquerors
came to be known everywhere as D^IV. It is not improbable
that the name was applied to them first by the natives, who must
have felt the need of a name for the newcomers; but in time,
when, after the securing of a foothold, the conquerors found it
necessary to distinguish themselves from the surrounding tribes
and nations, they took over the name, prompted, perhaps,
again by the expectation that in doing this they might secure
for themselves the special good will of the deity of the land. 1

If this theory is correct, DJ"t¥ denoted originally the pre-
Phcenician worshipers of "TV, settled upon the site of the later
Phoenician city of Siclon. From them it was adopted by the
Phoenician conquerors, who made that district their first stopping
place and, temporarily at least, their political and religious
centre. As the conquest progressed all the invaders became
known as D3"T¥, and from that time to the close of Phoeni-
cian history the name, while used also in the narrower sense of
the inhabitants of the city, continued to be used with the
broader ' tribal or national significance, equivalent to Qoivtzes, 2 '
a word coined at a later time by the Greeks. 3

This view still leaves the Phoenician Tyre a Sidonian settle-

1 It is true that this view is not based upon monumental evidence, which is
not available for this early period. However, the present writer believes
that it does complete justice to our knowledge of the early Semitic migrations
and of the history of the Phoenicians in subsequent periods, as also to the
traditions preserved by later writers. 2 See above, p. 17ff.

3 The significance of Qoivmec is still a matter of dispute. Eustathius (ad
Dionysium, 912) suggests that Solvit; is connected with (poivdg, blood-red, and
so, that the name calls attention to the color of the people. Related to this
word is the Latin Poenus, a name applied to the inhabitants of Carthage.
Rawlinson (History of Phoenicia, p. 1), following Movers, connects the name
with (f>olvt^, the date palm. " Here — the coast along the Mediterranean — it
would seem, in their early voyagings, the pre-Homeric Greeks first came upon a
land where the palm tree was not only indigenous but formed a leading and

striking characteristic Hence they called the tract Phoenicia, or

'the land of palms,' and the people who inhabited it Phoenicians, or 'the

*

32 THE FOUNDING OF TYRE

ment, but not in the sense in which it is commonly thought to
be such; 1 only in the sense that the Semitic immigrants soon
extended their conquests from Sidon 2 and, probably not without
desperate fighting, occupied Tyre, and transformed it into a
Semitic city. To this event may refer the tradition preserved
by Herodotus; if so, the date suggested by him must be con-
sidered approximately correct. But before long the superiority
of the location of Tyre asserted itself, and in a little while Tyre
surpassed Sidon, and maintained the leadership for many cen-
turies, until after the beginning of the first millennium B.C.

In conclusion it may be said that, from the evidence at hand, it
is not possible to determine the exact date of the founding of
Sidon. It was founded by a pre-Phcenician population, not
later than the close of the fourth millennium B.C., probably much
earlier. 3 About 2800 B.C. Semites migrated from southern
Babylonia and settled on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.
Sidon was their first conquest; they transformed it into a Semitic
town, from which, as the political and religious centre, the com-
plete conquest of Phoenicia was accomplished, when Sidon was
displaced from its eminent position by the more fortunately
situated Tyre.

palm-tree people.' " The principal weakness of this theory lies in the fact
that in Phoenicia proper the date palm is found but rarely; and though the
two words may have been connected at a later time, there is insufficient reason
for assuming that such connection was recognized originally. By some the
prototype of the name was thought to be the Egyptian Fenh-u, but W. M.
Muller (Asien und Europa, p. 208ff.) has shown that this word is not the name
of a nation, but a poetic designation of the Asiatic barbarians. Ed. Meyer
{Encycl. Bibl., art. Phoenicia) expresses the opinion that tyolvil- denoted first
the purple, and then the purple-men, i.e. the men who manufactured purple,
the Phoenicians. Neither these nor other interpretations suggested are quite
satisfactory. The question remains still open. Cp. Pietschmann, Geschichte
der Phonizier, pp. 13-17; Winckler, in Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament,
Dritte Auflage, p. 127; Guthe, in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyclopwdie, Band
XVIII, p. 294. « P. 23fT. 2 Cp. Justin, XVIII, 3.

3 There has been found near Sidon, in a depth of about six metres, a stratum
of earth containing flint implements, fragments of coarse red clay and other
primitive objects, which may indicate that the site of Sidon was inhabited as
early as the stone age. Am. Journ. of Archwol., I, p. 427; II, p. 477.

EARLY HISTORY OF SIDON 33

CHAPTER II

HISTORY OF SIDON TO THE CLOSE OF THE TEL-EL-AMARNA PERIOD

Sidon became a Phoenician city about 2800 B.C. During the
progress of the Phoenician conquest the city may have served as
the political and religious centre of the conquerors; but if so,
this supremacy continued for a short time only. As soon as the
entire land came under the control of the Semites, numerous
city states sprang up along the coast. Indeed, with the possible
exception of the period of the conquest, it is not possible to
speak of a Phoenician state or a Phoenician nation during this
early period. ' ' Phoenicia, like Greece, was a country where the
cities held a position of extreme importance. The nation was
not a centralized one with a single recognized capital, like
Judaea, or Samaria, or Syria, or Assyria, or Babylonia. It was,
like Greece, a congeries of homogeneous tribes who had never
been amalgamated into a single political entity, and who clung
fondly to the idea of separate independence. ' n

The several Phoenician city states, prominent among which
were Tyre, Sidon, Beyrut, Byblos, Arados, continued an inde-
pendent existence for many centuries; at least no information
to the contrary has yet come to light. Toward the close of the
sixteenth century, however, the Egyptians, under Thutmos I, 2
began the conquest of Syria, including Phoenicia. 3 Thutmos
III 4 followed in the footsteps of the first king bearing the name,
and after a decisive victory over the Canaanites at Megiddo, in
1479, 5 most of the Phoenician cities appear to have submitted
to him without resistance; only Simyra and Arados had to be

1 Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia, p. 64; cp. Movers, Die Phonizier, II, 1,
p. 83ff.; v. Landau, in Der Alte Orient, II, 4, p. 10; Gen. 10 : 15-18.

1 Breasted, 1557-1501 B.C. 8 Breasted, History of Egypt, p. 257ff.

* 1501-1447. • Breasted, History , p. 284ff.

34 TO THE TEL-EL-AMARNA PERIOD

taken by force. The local princes became vassals, whose au-
thority depended upon the good will of the Pharaoh; they had
to pay tribute and supply provisions for the Egyptian armies,
and their sons were educated at the court of Egypt. The
supremacy of Egypt continued for less than a century, when
under Amenhotep III 1 and Amenhotep IV, 2 who had no special
interest in war, it declined and finally came to an end.

In none of the earlier Egyptian inscriptions is any mention
made of Sidon. It would seem, therefore, that at that time it
occupied only a secondary position among the cities of Phoenicia;
much more prominent were the cities of the north. However,
the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence shows that Sidon played a
prominent role in the closing scenes of the Egyptian struggles.
From the north the Hittites threatened the Egyptian possessions
in Asia; associated with them were the wandering tribes of the
Habiri; and as the attack progressed several of the Syrian and
Phoenician cities joined forces with the invaders against Egypt.
The chief offenders among the Egyptian vassals appear to have
been Abd-asirta, governor of Amurru, 3 and his son Aziru.
Allied with these was Zimrida of Sidon, as is made very plain
by the complaints sent against him to the Egyptian court.
Rib-addi of Gebal again and again brings charges of disloyalty
against the Sidonians and their king: "The ships and people
of Simyra, Beyrut, Sidon, all of them in Amurru, as many as
there are of them, press upon me." 4 In another letter, which
gives a vivid picture of his desperate condition, the same king
expresses a fear that his people, who were without food, would
desert to the sons of Abd-asirta, and Sidon, and Beyrut. 5 He
continues: "Behold, the sons of Abd-asirta are hostile to the
king, and Sidon and Beyrut are not for the king. ' ,e A similar
complaint is contained in B. 77: "Zimrida .... and Yapa-
addu .... against me. ' ,7 A little later he dispatches a letter

1 1411-1375. 2 1375-1358. Called also Ikhnaton.

3 L. 44, 11. 30, 31. * L. 13, 11. 12-15.

8 B. 54, B. 13-19; cp. B. 48, 11. 69-74. 8 B. 54, 11. 19-23
1 U. 18, 19.

LETTERS OF RIB-ADDI 35

to the Pharaoh, 1 in which he calls attention once more to his
distress, and complains bitterly about the treatment accorded
to his messenger at court. Unless he receives immediate relief
he must surrender the city. Only out of loyalty to the king
does he undergo the present hardships, for his personal interests
would be better served by following in the footsteps of other
princes who had come to an understanding with the enemy.
"If I would come to an understanding with Abd-asirta, like
Yapa-addu and Zimrida, I would be saved. ' n B. 50 is another
letter from Rib-addi, in which he calls attention to the fact that
his letters and messengers have brought no response from the
court. On the reverse side of the tablet are named the kings
of Beyrut and Sidon and the king of another city, 3 but the text
is almost illegible. It would seem that Rib-addi wrote to these
kings, 4 and sent messengers to them, 5 asking for assistance, 6
which was refused. After five years of hardships and suffering,
he addresses the king once more. 7 The occasion is the siege of
Simyra. The enemy has approached to the very gates, though
the city itself is still holding out. For five years has the con-
spiracy against him continued, one of the chief conspirators
being Zimrida of Sidon. ' ' Zimrida and all the other brethren —
i.e., the other princes — have fallen away from me, and they are
fighting against Simyra." 8

More serious complaints even are made by Abi-milki, the
vassal king of Tyre. He never wearies of affirming his own loyalty
to Egypt, nor of accusing Sidon of shameful treachery. One
of his earliest letters is L. 29. The greater part of the epistle
he devotes to the affirmation of his own loyalty, but he closes
with these significant words : ' ' Moreover, Zimrida, the Sidonian,
day after day sends to him the rebel Aziru, the son of Abd-
asirta, concerning all things which he hears from Egypt. There-
fore I write to my lord, and it is well for him to know." 9 At a
later stage of the conflict he makes this complaint: 10 "Beit

1 L. 14. 2 II. 24-27. s II. 4-6. 4 I. 7. * I. 10.

e Z. 17. 'B.43. 8 «.20,21. HI. 66-71. 10 L. 28, 11. 47-49.

36 TO THE TEL-EL-AMARNA PERIOD

known to the king: Although thou hast appointed me governor
in Tyre, Zimrida has taken away Uzu. ' n And again, ' ' Zimrida
of Sidon, and Aziru, the rebel against the king, and the people
of Arvad have consulted together and have formed a conspiracy,
and have brought together their ships, their war chariots, and
their niru soldiers, to take away Tyre, the maid of the king." 2
Once more: "Tyre they have not been able to capture, but
Simyra they have taken. In the mouth of Zimrida is the com-
mand which the king sends to Aziru." 3 From approximately
the same period comes B. 231, in which the king reports the
hostility of some of the neighboring princes : ' ' Behold the prince
of the city .... and Zimrida are hostile toward me day and
night." 4 To a slightly later date belongs L. 30. Abi-milki
expresses a desire to visit the court of the king; but, says he,
1 ' I cannot on account of Zimrida of Sidon. As soon as he hears
concerning me that I plan to go to the court, he undertakes
hostilities against me." 5 Toward the close of the letter he
writes: "I have learned of the crime of Zimrida, that he has
brought together ships and soldiers out of the cities of Aziru . . .
against me." 9 Soon afterward he sends a pitiful appeal for
speedy relief, because he is in desperate straits. Again Zimrida
is one of the dreaded enemies. ' ' Behold the prince of .... in
ships has come and the prince of Sidon in two ships, and I will
go with all my ships and all ... . And may the king care for
his servant and protect . . . . " 7

The loss of Uzu wrought great hardships for the inhabitants
of island Tyre ; hence Abi-milki pleads with the Pharaoh to bring
about the restoration of the city, that he may secure there food
and water: "Since every day the king of Sidon takes away
my niru soldiers, may the king incline his countenance to his
servant, and give orders to his representative, that he may
restore to me Uzu, for water to his servant, and to secure wood,

1 Uzu was on the mainland, opposite the island Tyre, and supplied the
latter with drinking water.

2 0. 53-63. 8 II. 65-70. 4 U. 14-16.
• II. 10-14. 8 11. 64-68. 7 L. 31, 11. 57-61.

LETTERS OF ABI-MILKI 37

and straw, and clay." 1 And again: "The king of Sidon and
the king of Hazor has left his (city?), and they have allied them-
selves with the Habiri. ' n In the same strain he writes : 3 ' ' Since
the troops of the king, my lord, have left me, the prince of Sidon,
my brother, does not permit me to descend to the land, to get
wood, and to get water for drinking purposes. One(?) man
has he killed, and one(?) man has he not left alive(?)."'

A close alliance between Sidon and Aziru is implied also in
B. 92, a letter written by the Pharaoh to Aziru, in which he
rebukes the latter for his attitude toward Rib-addi of Gebal.
Apparently the latter had sought refuge in Sidon, where he fell
into the hands of Aziru. "When he was in Sidon, thou didst
deliver him up to the princes. ■ ' 5

Often the Pharaoh must have wondered what were the real
conditions in Syria and Phoenicia, who were his friends and who
were his foes, for at the very time one vassal prince accused
another of treachery, the accused would send to the court the
most solemn affirmations of loyalty. One illustration of this is
furnished by L. 44, a letter addressed by Abd-asirta to the
Pharaoh. Though there can be no question that Abd-asirta was
one of the chief conspirators against Egypt, 8 he in this letter
humbly appeals, as a loyal vassal of the Pharaoh, for assistance
against enemies threatening him from within and without. To
strengthen his own position he accuses of treachery against the
Pharaoh Sidon, which, according to the letters of Rib-addi and
Abi-milki, had made common cause with Abd-asirta against
Egypt. Though some parts of the letter are obscure, the general
thought seems to be that three cities, the names of two of which
have been preserved, had rebelled and were sending ships against

1 B. 99, 11. 23-34. 2 11. 40-43. 3 B. 162, 11. 11-21.

* This letter may belong to an earlier period. It does not imply necessarily
the loss of Uzu. Abi-milki may mean only that the Sidonians sought to
prevent the crossing of the channel. If Uzu was still a part of the territory of
Tyre, this letter must be earlier than L. 28, which announces the loss of the
city.

• 11. 12, 13. 6 B. 55, B. 48, B. 84, etc.

38 TO THE TEL-EL-AMARNA PERIOD

Amurru, over which Abd-asirta had been made governor by the
king. He prays the king for protection, and urges him to place
in these cities governors who will be ready to assist him against
his own people, for they threaten to kill him. % ' And the people
of Sidon and Beyrut, whose are these cities? Not the king's?
Place one man in each city. And if he sends no ships to Amurru,
then they — i.e., the inhabitants of Amurru — will kill Abd-asirta.
The king has placed him over them, not they themselves. Let
the king give orders to the three cities, and to the ships of the
governors, that they may not depart from Amurru, and take
captive Abd-asirta. ' n

Zimrida also knew how to feign loyalty and obedience to the
Pharaoh. B. 90 is a letter written to the latter by the king of
Sidon. "To the king, my lord, my (great) god, my sun, the
breath of my life; thus Zimrida, the governor of Sidon: At the
feet of my lord, my god, the sun, the breath of my life; at the
feet of my lord, my god, my sun, the breath of my life, seven and
seven times I bow. Be it known to the king, my lord, that
peaceful is Sidon, the maid of the king, my lord, which he has
committed into my hand. And when I heard the message of
the king, my lord, when he wrote to his servant, then was glad
my heart, and I raised my head, and brightened my eyes, when
I heard the message of the king, my lord. Be it known to the
king, that I am at the command of the troops of the king, my lord.
I carry out everything as commands the king, my lord, And be
it known to the king, my lord, that powerful is hostility against
me; all my cities which the king committed into my hands have
fallen into the hands of the Habiri. May the king place me in
the hands (i.e., under the protection) of him who marches at the
head of the troops of the king, to demand the cities which have
fallen into the hands of the Habiri, and to restore them into my
hand, that I may serve the king, my lord, as my fathers have
done before."

B. 182 contains another letter of Zimrida. It is in such dam-

1 11. 23-35.

lp:tters of zimrida 39

aged condition, however, that it is difficult to determine its
meaning. It seems that he complains again about hostilities
undertaken against him, 1 and that he promises to report on
conditions in Amurru, in accord with the demand made upon
him. 2

From this correspondence these facts concerning Sidon may
be learned: 1. Some time before the crisis reflected in the letters
Sidon had become a vassal state of Egypt. 3 2. The governor-
ship passed from father to son. 4 3. One of the kings of Egypt,
probably Thutmos III, visited Sidon. 5 4. Sidon did not enjoy
any special preeminence over the other cities of Phoenicia. It
was one of several city states along the coast; it may have con-
trolled the surrounding villages, 6 but its territory was limited.
The fact that Sidon was on the winning side may have given to
it temporarily greater prominence than was enjoyed by the
cities that shared the misfortunes of Egypt, e.g., Tyre. 5. Sidon
was one of the first to throw off the Egyptian yoke, and was
among the most active foes of the Pharaohs.

Aside from these few facts nothing is known concerning the
fortunes of Sidon from the time of the Phoenician conquest to
the close of the Tel-el-Amarna period.

1 1. 14. 2 11. 23ff. 3 B. 90, 11. 33, 34. 4 ib.

6 B. 48, 11. 69-73. "Since thy father has returned from Sidon, since that
time the lands have fallen into the hands of the Habiri. ' '
6 B. 90, 11. 24, 25.

40 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARHADDON

CHAPTER III

TO THE DESTRUCTION OF SIDON BY ESARHADDON

Concerning the events in Phoenicia during the centuries
immediately following the crisis reflected in the Tel-el-Amarna
correspondence no direct information has been preserved. It
is not improbable that, for a short time at least, the overlordship
of the Egyptians was exchanged for that of the Hittites, who
during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries B.C. established
themselves in northern Syria. 1 The exact boundary line between
the two nations is not defined in the treaty entered into by
Rameses II in 1272, but it is certain that neither he nor his
successors could compel the allegiance of the Phoenicians.

The character of the Hittite rule over the coast cities, if it
existed, is not known. However, we may safely assume that it
did not interrupt the steady, natural development of Sidon and
the other Phoenician cities. To the thirteenth century belongs
the mention of Sidon on the Papyrus Anastasi I, 2 but it throws
no light upon conditions in the city. 8

With the great movements among the nations bordering on
the Mediterranean Sea which occurred at about this time, 4
Krall connects the tradition of Justin. 5 ' ' The tradition should
perhaps be interpreted in this wise: The island Tyre, which,

1 For the conflicts of Rameses II with the Hittites see Breasted, Hist, of
Egypt, p. 425ff. On p. 425, 1388 should be 1288 B.C.

3 See above, p. 21.

s The references to Tyre and Sidon in the early Egyptian inscriptions are so
few in number that from them no inference can be drawn concerning the rela-
tion of the two cities to each other. Tyre appears to have been more promi-
nent, but there is insufficient warrant for the contention of Jeremias, Tyrus
bis zur Zeit Nebukadnezars, p. 16, that Sidon was at this time a dependency of
Tyre.

* Cp. Breasted, History, p. 477ff.

* Historice, XVIII, 3 ; see above, p. 24.

THE HITTITE SUPREMACY 41!

not expecting an attack from the sea, was without strong forti-
fications in ancient times, 1 was overrun in the course of these
movements by nations that possessed a powerful navy. After
this catastrophe the city received additions from Sidon, which
at this time was probably still a part of the territory of Tyre.
However that may be, so much is certain : that here Sidon appears
for the first time in Phoenician history; not the close of a long
and glorious activity of Sidon lies here before us, but the first
beginning of an independent government of the city." 2 In
favor of this interpretation of Justin's tradition is the fact that
the date of the migrations of the nations corresponds, approxi-
mately at least, with the date of the building of Tyre suggested
by Justin and Josephus. 3 On the other hand, it does not explain
the part played by a king of Ascalon in the driving out of the
Sidonians, nor does it furnish any evidence to prove the assump-
tion that Tyre suffered in the manner described. Until such
evidence is brought to light the theory of Krall must, to say the
least, remain exceedingly doubtful. 4

While the Hittites were establishing themselves in northern
Syria, a kingdom was forming between the Euphrates and
Tigris which was destined to overthrow the Hittite rule. The
Assyrians crossed the Euphrates for the first time c. 1300 B.C. r
under Salmaneser I. 5 However, the west was not seriously
threatened by them until nearly two centuries later. About
1120 B.C., Tiglathpileser I, "the grand monarch of western Asia
in his day," came upon the throne. He marched westward
and subdued "the Kaski and the Urumi, people of the land of
Hatti." 6 He also calls himself "the conqueror from the great
sea of the westland — i.e., the Mediterranean — to the sea of the
land of the Nairi." 7 Silence concerning the cities of Phoenicia
warrants the assumption that he did not come into direct hostile
contact with them during these expeditions. His successor

1 Cp. Movers, Die Phonizier, II, 1, p. 221.

2 Tyrus und Sidon, p. 672 ; cp. Jeremias, Tyrus, p. 17. 3 See above, p. 24.
4 For a more satisfactory interpretation see p. 55. 5 Rogers, Hist., II, p. 13.
• 1 R. 10, Col. II, 11. 100, 101. 7 III R. 3, No. 6; 11. 58-60-

42 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARHADDON

Asur-bel-Kala has left only one short inscription, 1 in which he
alludes to the gods of the land of Martu 2 — i.e., the land of the
Amorites, which is Syria, an allusion which may point to his
control of the west. 3

Following the death of Tiglathpileser I, Assyria was ruled for
nearly two centuries by weaklings, and nothing is heard of
military expeditions against the westland. As a result, the
western states enjoyed peace, and entered upon a period of
great political activity. During these centuries the Hebrew
kingdom was born, and the kingdom of Damascus came into
being. The Phoenicians also remained undisturbed, and now
for the first time do we read of a powerful Phoenician state under
the rule of Hiram, king of Tyre, about 980 B.C. 4 Though Hiram
bears the title king of Tyre, his subjects are called Sidonians. 5
This peculiar usage must be explained as suggested above, 6 and
the phrase implies that he controlled some portions of Phoenicia
outside of the city of Tyre. That his rule included Sidon can
be neither proved nor disproved. The expression itself does
not imply it, and there is not the slightest indication anywhere
that he was recognized as the king of Sidon, or that he made any
move toward displacing the legitimate king of the latter city. 7
Tyre was nearer to the territory of the Israelites than any other
prominent city of Phoenicia; hence it was only natural that they
should look upon it as the representative city of the Phoenicians.
The most that may be inferred from the Biblical statements is
that Sidon occupied at this time a secondary position. That

1 1 R. 6, No. 6. 2 11. 6, 7.

3 So Rogers, History of Babylonia and Assyria, II, p. 33; Sayce, Records of
the Past, New Ser., VI, p. 78. Jeremias thinks that the reference is to Martu in
Elam.

* 2 S. 5 : 11 ; 1 K. 5 : 15; 9 : 11 ; 1 Chr. 14 : 1 ; 2 Chr. 2 : 2; 2 : 10; cp. 1 K. 9 : 12.

»1K. 5 : 20; op. 11 : 1,5, 33. • P. 17ff.

7 Cp. v. Landau, Der Alte Orient, II, 4, p. 19. The statements of Eupo-
lemus, quoted by Eusebius in Pr&paratio Evangelica, that Hiram was king
of Tyre and Phoenicia (IX, 30), or king of Tyre, and Sidon, and Phoenicia
(IX, 33) , mark a later attempt to combine the statements in Kings, the full
force of which was not understood.

THE TENTH AND NINTH CENTURIES 43

Tyre showed unusual activity need not be denied, 1 but the
probability is that Sidon continued to prosper as an independent
city state, though perhaps on a smaller scale than her more
fortunately situated sister.

The next historical reference to Sidon takes us to the reign
of Asurnasirpal of Assyria. 2 In 876 he undertook his first expedi-
tion westward. Of it he has left this account: "At that time
I occupied the slopes of the Lebanon. To the great sea of the
westland I marched. By the great sea I hung up my weapons.
I offered sacrifice to the gods. The tribute of the kings of the
coasts of the sea, of the Tyrians, the Sidonians, the Gebalites,
the Makhallatians, the Maizians, the Kaizians, 3 the people of
the westland, and of Arvad in the midst of the sea, silver, gold,
lead, copper, plates of copper, variegated clothes, linen vestments,
a great pagutu, and a small pagutu, Usu wood, Urkarinu wood,
ivory, a porpoise, the offspring of the sea, as their tribute I
received. They embraced my feet." 4 Asurnasirpal did not
follow up this victory. When he had collected the tribute, he
proceeded to cut down building material, which he carried to
Nineveh, and the remainder of his reign was devoted to works
of peace. The payment of the tribute to Asurnasirpal is the
first illustration of the policy which the Phoenician cities prac-
ticed quite consistently for several centuries. Rather than
suffer their commercial enterprises to be interfered with, they
were ready to sacrifice, without a blow, their political independ-
ence. The noteworthy fact about the above inscription is that
Sidon is mentioned as one of the several independent cities of
Phoenicia. 5

1 Josephus, Cont. Ap., I, 18. 2 885-860 B.C.

3 Delitzsch, Wo lag das Parodies? p. 282, suggests that the three cities,
Makhalla, Maiz, and Kaiz, formed the later Tripolis; cp. Sayce, Records of the
Past, New Ser., II, p. 172, note 1; but Winckler (Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament, Dritte Auflage, p. 41) calls them " three otherwise unknown cities."

4 1 R. 24, Col. Ill, 11. 84-88.

5 To the period of Asurnasirpal belongs Ethbaal, king of Tyre — 1 K. 16 : 31
— called by Josephus (Contra Ap., I, 18) Ithobalos.

44 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARHADDON

Von Landau assumes, 1 partly on the basis of the statements of
Josephus, 2 that toward the close of the tenth century B.C. the
government of Tyre and Sidon had passed from the dynasty of
Tyre to that of Sidon, which, he thinks, had suffered almost
complete eclipse under Hiram and his immediate successors.
In the passage mentioned, Josephus, quoting from Menander,*
says: "After the death of Hiram (DIPT), Balbazerus pfJ^JD),
his son, took the kingdom; he lived forty- three years, and
reigned seven years. He was succeeded by his son Abdastartos
(mn&J'J/'TD.y), who lived twenty-nine years and reigned nine
years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him and
slew him, the oldest of whom, Methusastartos (fnriB'JflfiD
or mnWlO - mrUPynON; so Lidzbarski, Handbuch der
nordsemitischen Epigraphik, p. 319), the son of Leastartos
(imn&P . . .), became king; he lived fifty-four years and ruled
twelve. After him came his brother Astharymos (. . . fWWJ? ?) ,
who lived fifty-eight years and reigned nine years. He was slain
by his brother Phelles (Jlin^- 1 ?^?), who took the kingdom
and reigned eight months, having lived fifty years. Him killed
Ithobalos (TVSnK), the priest of Astarte, who lived forty-eight
years and reigned thirty-two years. ' ' Does this account throw
any light on the history of Sidon? Von Landau insists that it
does, and his argument is as follows : He starts with the assump-
tion that Hiram, the contemporary of Solomon, subdued Sidon,
Now Ithobalos is called priest of Astarte ; but, says he, Astarte
( = Astart) is the principal deity of Sidon, hence Ithobalos must
be a member of the dynasty of Sidon. 4 As a further inference
he sees in the assassination of Phelles by Ithobalos a revolution
of Sidon against the dynasty of Tyre, which resulted in the
supplanting of the latter by the dynasty of Sidon. This is a
very bold conjecture. The worship of Astart was by no means

1 Der AUe Orient, II, 4, pp. 19, 20. 2 Contr. Ap., I, 18,

3 The translation is based upon the Greek text edited by Niese, Vol. V, p. 22.

4 Tabnit and Esmunazar I are called priests of AStart in the inscription of
Tabnit, 11,1,2; and the mother of Esmunazar II is called a priestess of A§tart,
— Inscription of Esmunazar, I. 15.

THE NINTH CENTURY 45

confined to Sidon, and it is worthy of note that the names of
two, perhaps three, of the kings enumerated by Josephus con-
tain the name of the deity Astart — Abd-astartos, the grandson of
Hiram, Methusastartos, the usurper, and, perhaps, Astharymos,
his brother; it is found also in Leastartos. Underlying the
theory is the false assumption that Hiram and his immediate
successors were kings of Sidon as well as of Tyre. In reality
there is not the slightest ground for believing that at any time
during this period Tyre and Sidon were united under one king.

The son and successor of Asurnasirpal, Salmaneser II, 1 under-
took several expeditions against the westland. The account of
one of these, undertaken in 842, contains this statement: "At
that time I received the tribute of the Tyrians, the Sidonians, and
of Jehu, the son of Omri. ' n Evidently the people of Tyre and
Sidon had resumed their commerce, and in order to prevent the
interruption of their enormous profits, they were quite ready to
pay the tribute demanded of them. In 839, the twenty-first
year of his reign, Salmaneser led another army against the west-
land, and again we read: "The tribute of the Tyrians, the
Sidonians and the Gebalites I received. ' ' 3

It is not likely that the Assyrian expeditions interfered very
seriously with the activities of Sidon and the other Phoenician
cities, or with their practical independence. The Assyrian con-
querors made no attempt to establish a permanent government
in the west, and the tribute imposed was probably very insig-
nificant, when compared with the immense income of the mer-
chant cities.

Adad-nirari III 4 undertook, according to the brief notes in the
Eponym canon, at least two expeditions against the west, 5 but
no details are given there. In one inscription he makes this

1 860-825. a III R. 5, No. 6, 11. 63-65.

8 Black Obelisk, Col. II, 11. 103-104; see Abel und Winckler, Keilschrifttexte,
p. 10.

4 811-783.

8 The Eponym canon speaks of an expedition against Arpad in 806, of one
to the sea coast in 803; see Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, I, p. 208.

46 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARHADDON

claim: "From beyond the Euphrates, the land of the Hittites r
the westland in its entirety, Tyre, Sidon, the land of Omri r
Edom, Philistia, to the great sea of the setting sun, I subjected
unto my feet; tribute and taxes I imposed upon them." 1 The
king sets up the claim here that he subjected Sidon; it is not
improbable, however, that he means to say nothing more than
that the city paid tribute, as on former occasions.

Following the reign of Adad-nirari, the power of Assyria de-
clined for about forty years, during which period the western states
had a breathing spell, and were able once more to pursue, unmo-
lested, their own policies. Now, if ever, Tyre had the opportunity
to assert her supremacy, and it is not impossible that she was
successful. In 745 the great warrior Tiglathpileser III came
to the throne of Assyria, who in a short while resumed opera-
tions in the west, which had been discontinued under his immedi-
ate predecessors. As early as 743 he marched westward, direct-
ing his attack against Arpad, which fell after a desperate struggle
lasting three years. 2 When Arpad fell, the kings of the neigh-
boring nations, with one exception, Tutamma, king of the Unki,
brought presents, among them Hiram of Tyre. 3 No mention
is made of Sidon. In 738 the Eponym canon locates Tiglath-
pileser again in northern Syria; again he was victorious, and
again did Hiram of Tyre and other princes pay tribute. ' ' The
tribute of Kustaspi of Kummukh, Rezin of Damascus, Menahem
of Samaria, Hiram (Hi-ru-um) of Tyre, Sibitti-bi'li (^JfcntfMP?)
of Gebal .... I received. ' '* Again no mention is made of Sidon.
To maintain a more permanent hold on the west, Tiglathpileser
organized a Phoenician province, which he placed under the
control of his son Salmaneser. 5 In 734 he is found once more

1 1 R. 35, No. 1, 11. 11-13.

2 See Eponym canon, years 743-740; Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, I, p. 212.

8 G. Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 274, 11. lOff. This is the Hiram men-
tioned in C. I. S., I, No. 5, as king of the Sidonians, = Phoenicians; see below,,
p. 153. • III R. 9, 0. 50ff.

5 Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, II, p. 4, cp. p. 67 ; Keilinschriftliches-
Textbuch, p. 35.

TIGLATHPILESER AND §ALMANESER 4T

on the shores of the Mediterranean, 1 and it is not improbable
that to this period should be assigned the expedition against
Tyre recorded in II R. 67, 2. 66. ' ' The Rabsake I sent to Tyre;
from Metena (JfiO) of Tyre I received 150 talents of gold. ' ' This
expedition must have taken place after 738, for Hiram had been
succeeded by Metena; but it is not possible to locate it more defi-
nitely. Perhaps Tyre had grown restless under the rule of Sal-
maneser during the crisis of 734, and Tiglathpileser had dis-
patched the army to quell the revolt. Jeremias is inclined to
place the expedition in the closing years of Tiglathpileser' s reign,
in 728 or 727. 2

The one interesting feature in all these inscriptions is the
absolute silence of Tiglathpileser concerning Sidon. It is not
credible that the Assyrian monarch, who is exceedingly careful
in the enumeration of his conquests, should have omitted Sidon
in at least three separate inscriptions by accident. It is much
more natural to interpret the silence as an evidence that at last
Tyre had succeeded in establishing her supremacy in southern
Phoenicia, and that at this time the king of Tyre was also the
king of Sidon, the royal residence being in Tyre.

Little can be learned from the inscriptions concerning condi-
tions in Sidon during the reign of Salmaneser IV. 3 This king
may have been in the west in 727, 4 and between 724 and 722 he
warred against Israel, 5 but, so far as we know, he did not come
into direct conflict with the cities of Phoenicia. 6 However,
according to the present text of Josephus, 7 Menander places in
the reign of Salmaneser a five-year siege of Tyre, during which
the Assyrian king was assisted by several Phoenician cities,
among them Sidon. The account in Josephus reads: "And

1 Eponym canon, year 734. 3 Tyrus bis zur zeit Nebukadnezars, p. 29.

3 727-722. * Babylonian Chronicle, B., 1. 28. 5 2 K. 18 : 9, 10.

8 The inscription translated by Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen. II, p.
15, which mentions a tribute imposed upon Tyre by Salmaneser, does not prove
the contrary. It refers in all probability to a tribute imposed while he was
viceroy of Phoenicia, during the reign of Tiglathpileser.

7 Ant., IX, 14, 2.

48 TO THE DESTRUCTION OF ESARHADDON

Elulseus (? . . . *7N?) reigned thirty-six years (in Tyre). 1 This
king, upon the revolt of the Cittians, sailed against them and
reduced them again to submission. In warring against him,
.Selampsas, the king of Assyria, overran all Phoenicia. Soon, how-
ever, he made peace and returned home. Then Sidon, Acco, and
Palsetyrus revolted, and many other cities, that joined themselves
to the king of Assyria. Accordingly, when the Tyrians would not
submit to him, the king fell upon them again, the Phoenicians
furnishing sixty ships and 800 men to row them." The account
then narrates the victory of the Tyrian ships and the subsequent
five-year siege of the island Tyre.

This narrative would seem to lend support to the conclusion,
drawn from the inscriptions of Tiglathpileser, that Tyre had
acquired the supremacy over Sidon and other Phoenician cities.

1 The meaning of the words de/ievuv avru ILvag ovo/ua, which follow the name
"EAofAaZof, is uncertain. The grammatical construction is peculiar, and the
identification of "Elov'Xaios with Hvag is precarious. The words are omitted
in the old Latin version, and should probably be regarded as a later inter-
polation. Tlvag or Tlvlag, as the name is written in some MSS., resembles the
Babylonian name Pul = Tiglathpileser III, and v. Landau, Beitrage, I, pp.
14, 15, suggests that he is meant here. If so, the words cannot be in their
proper place, and v. Landau places them after Tvpiuv apxaiotg in the pre-
ceding paragraph, and makes Josephus say that in the Tyrian archives the
name of the king was given as Hvlag . If now ^eM/ifag is identical with Sal-
maneser, Josephus names two distinct kings as leading the expedition against
Tyre. This difficulty leads v. Landau to assume that Josephus combines here
erroneously accounts which referred to distinct events, and that he represents
as one expedition the undertakings of two or more kings. It is incredible that
Josephus should make this blunder with the two names before him. Now it is
worthy of note that until the publication of Niese's text the name of the
Assyrian king was not recognized; on the other hand, the old Latin version
names Salmaneser, while it has no equivalent of Hi/lag . These facts suggest
the proper explanation. The authors of the Latin version still saw a proper
name in ZeXafiipag, but soon the text became corrupted, so that the reader
•could recognize no longer the name of the Assyrian king. Some learned
reader sought to supply the want by adding in the margin the clause con-
taining the alleged name of the Assyrian king. This marginal note was later
inserted in the wrong place. It is not Josephus who made the blunder, but
a zealous reader. With the marginal note omitted, the reading becomes
natural and smooth.

SALMANESER'S attack upon TYRE 49

That the Sidonians should resent the Tyrian rule is only natural;
nor is it difficult to see why the Assyrian king should spare no
efforts to increase the discontent, break up the union, and thus
reduce the strength of Tyre. Josephus relates how he succeeded
in separating from the king of Tyre, Sidon, Acco, and even Palse-
tyrus — i.e., the city upon the mainland 1 — and secured their
support for the attack upon the island Tyre. Nevertheless,
Tyre was too strong and defeated the plans of the allies.

That the tradition preserved by Josephus rests upon historical
facts cannot be doubted; on the other hand, it may be seriously
questioned, whether the attack upon Tyre reported by him can be
placed in the reign of Salmaneser. 2 1. The form of the king's
name is peculiar. It is difficult to explain ZeXd/Mpa$ as a cor-
ruption of SaX/j.avaadprj<i or ZaXp.avd<T<T7)?, the form used by
Josephus in other passages. 3 A very serious corruption must be
assumed. Why not restore Zevaxetpipo? = Sennacherib? 4 The
first two letters of this name are identical with the first two
letters of the name in the present text. If Menander wrote
originally Ssvazdpifios, the name reached Josephus in a cor-
rupted form. 2. The cautious statement of Josephus suggests
that he cherished some doubts on this point. In introducing
the quotation he makes the significant statement that the name
of the king is preserved in the Tyrian archives. Though he
evidently identified IeXdfj.(pa? with Salmaneser, he seems to
have some misgivings. 3. Sennacherib mentions a king of
Sidon named Luli, which is the Assyrian form of 'EXouXaios.
4. There is no room during Salmaneser's reign for the events
described by Menander. Salmaneser ascended the throne of

1 The same as Uzu in the Tel-el- Amarna tablets; see above, p. 36.

3 George Smith, History of Sennacherib, pp. 69, 70. Meyer, Gesch. des Alter-
tums, I, p. 467. Jeremias, Tyrus, p. 31ff. V. Landau, Beitrage zur Alter-
tumskunde des Orient, I, p. 5ff.

3 Ant., IX, 13, 1;IX, 14, 1.

4 The fact that the old Latin version reads Salmaneser — cp. Schrader, Z. A.,
I, 126 — proves nothing. It may be as much of a guess as the gloss of the
annotator.

50 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARHADDON

Assyria in the month of Tebet, 727. 1 During the remainder of
the year he could not possibly have "overrun all Phoenicia. "
In 726 he remained at home. 2 In 725 or 724 he marched against
Samaria and besieged it. This struggle demanded his best
efforts during the remainder of his life. When could he find
the time, with this troublesome task on his hand, or secure the
resources to war against Tyre in the manner described by
Menander? Besides, he died in 722; in other words, while the
siege of Tyre would have been still in progress. If so, it is strange
that no mention is made of the accession of the usurper Sargon.
5. The events described by Menander fit admirably in the cam-
paigns of Sennacherib, as recorded by the Assyrian king; 3 indeed,
unless we identify the campaign against Tyre recorded by Menan-
der with that of Sennacherib, we must assume that practically
the same events took place twice within one brief lifetime.

These considerations are of sufficient weight to justify the
conclusion that Josephus is describing, in the passage quoted,
events which took place during the campaigns of Sennacherib, 4
and the assumption that during the reign of Salmaneser condi-
tions in Phoenicia remained as they were under Tiglathpileser
III; in other words, Tyre continued to exercise control over the
cities in southern Phoenicia, including Sidon. This state of
affairs continued during the reign of Sargon II. 5 He calls him-
self "the mighty in battle, who fished the Ia-am-na-a-a ....
like fish out of the midst of the sea, and pacified Kue and Tyre." 6
The meaning of the inscription is somewhat obscure; 7 all we need
to note here is the silence concerning Sidon.

Sidon reappears in the inscriptions of Sennacherib, 8 in a manner

1 Babylonian Chron., B., Col. I, 11. 27, 28.

1 The Eponym canon contains the note ina mati. s See below, p. 51f.

* Less probable is the view of v. Landau, Beitrdge, p. 9ff. ; cp. also Winckler,
Altorientalische Forschungen, II, p. 65ff., that Josephus refers to three cam-
paigns — the last campaign of Tiglathpileser, the campaign of Sennacherib, and
that of Esarhaddon.

5 722-705 B.C. 8 1 R. 36, 1.21.

7 Cp. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, II, p. 68. 1

8 705-681 B.C.

EXPEDITION OF SENNACHERIB 51

which gives additional support to the view that during the latter
part of the eighth century B.C., Sidon was subject to Tyre. The
western campaigns of the great king are recorded in several
inscriptions. Concerning his expedition against Sidon he says:
' ' And Luli, 1 king of Sidon, retreated before my attack; to Cyprus,
which is in the midst of the sea, he fled, and sought refuge in that
country. In the might of the weapons of Asur, my lord, I took
possession of his country. Tuba'lu (?p2PH) I placed upon his
royal throne, and I imposed upon him the tribute of my lord-
ship. ' n Another inscription reads : ' ' From Luli, the king of the
city of Sidon, I took away his kingship. Tubalu I placed upon his
throne, and I imposed upon him the tribute of my lordship." 3 The
most extensive reference to Sidon is in the so-called Taylor
Cylinder.* There Sennacherib says: "In my third campaign I
marched to the land of the Hittites. Luli, the king of Sidon,
was overcome by the fear of the splendor of my royalty and fled
far away to the sea, and there made his abode. Great Sidon,
Little Sidon, Bit-zitti, Sarepta, Makhalliba, Usu, 5 Ekdippa,
Acco, his powerful cities, fortresses, pastures, and cisterns, and
his fortifications, the power of the weapons of Asur, my lord,
overcame and cast at my feet. Tubalu I placed upon the royal
throne over them, and I imposed upon him the tribute of my
lordship, yearly and unchangeable." 6 Among the kings who
"brought rich presents, heavy gifts, with merchandise," and
kissed his feet, he names Tubalu of Sidon. 7 Additional informa-
tion is furnished by Bull Inscription No. 4, a variant from which

1 The name corresponds to the 'EXov?„aiog of Josephus; see above, p. 48.

2 Bull Inscriptions 2 and 3, 11. 17-20; see G. Smith, History of Sennacherib,
pp. 67, 68.

3 1 R. 43, 11. 13, 14.

* See Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestilcke, 4th ed., p. 54ff.

5 The same as Uzu of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets and Palcetyrus of Josephus,
the mainland Tyre; for Great Sidon and Little Sidon see above, p. 9; Sarepta
and Acco are two well-known cities; Ekdippa (written Ak-zi-bi) is situated
on the coast between Tyre and Acco ; the location of the other two is not yet
determined.

• Col. II, 11. 34-46. 7 Ibid., I. 48.

52 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARH ADDON

is given by G. Smith. 1 There the statement is made that Luli
fled "from the midst of Tyre to Cyprus, which is in the midst
of the sea. ' n Instead of ' ' from the midst of Tyre, ' ' III R. 12,
I. 18 reads simply ' ' from the westland. ' '

What seems to be the historical situation presented by these
inscriptions? Luli, though called king of Sidon, had his royal
residence in Tyre. 3 From there he ruled Tyre, Sidon, and the
other cities named by Sennacherib. When all the cities of Luli,
with the exception of the island Tyre, had been taken, he began
to fear for his personal safety and fled to Cyprus. One can readily
notice the striking similarities between these narratives and the
account of Menander. In the further progress of the events
recorded by the latter, so far as they concern Tyre, we have
no interest here; there is, however, every reason to believe that
the attack upon Tyre, in which the king was aided by the
Phoenician cities, quite ready to turn against their rival and
former lord, and the long siege of the city took place subsequent
to the events recorded by Sennacherib. 4

The calamity which befell Tyre at this time resulted in good
for Sidon. The Assyrian kings would find it advantageous to
play the western states against one another, so as to prevent
the formation of a powerful alliance. It is not improbable,
therefore, that, temporarily at least, Assyria favored and encour-
aged the development of Sidon. At any rate Sidon remained
independent of Tyre; and it would seem that the cities which,
with Sidon, had formerly belonged to Tyre, were transferred to
Tubalu. 5

Sometime before the death of Sennacherib Abdimilkuti
(nD*7DlD^) succeeded Tubalu, who apparently remained faith-
ful to his overlord throughout his entire reign. Whether or not

1 History of Sennacherib, p. 54.

2 Cp. Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, II, p. 90, note 12.

3 Cp. Schrader, in Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften,
1892, p. 341.

* On the subsequent fortunes of Tyre see Jeremias, Tyrus, p. 34ff .
8 Taylor Cyl, II, 11. 44, 45.

SENNACHERIB AND ESARHADDON 53

the change was the result of an assassination we know not.
When Sennacherib died, the new king thought that an opportune
moment had arrived to attempt a revolt. Undoubtedly he was
encouraged in the carrying out of his scheme by a knowledge of
the difficulties which confronted Esarhaddon, 1 the successor of
Sennacherib. 2 Abdimilkuti's hopes were not realized, for Esar-
haddon marched speedily against Sidon and visited severe pun-
ishment upon the king, the people, and the city. In the record of
the expedition the Assyrian ruler calls himself ' ' the conqueror of
Sidon, which lies in the midst of the sea, the overthrower of its
dwellings. ' ' The story of its destruction he tells in these words :
' ' Its walls and its houses I tore down and threw them into the sea,
and I destroyed its site. Abdimilkuti, its king, who before my
weapons in the midst of the sea had fled, like a fish from the
midst of the sea I drew him out and cut off his head. His
accumulated property, gold, silver, precious stones, an elephant
hide, elephant teeth, Usu and Urkarinu wood, variegated and
linen clothing of every description, the treasure of his palace,
in great quantities I carried away. His many men, who were
without number, oxen, sheep, and asses, I brought to Assyria. I
assembled the kings of the land of the Hittites and of the sea
coast. In another place I caused the city to be built, and Kar-
Asur-ahe-iddin-na 3 I called its name. The men, the booty of my
bow, from the mountains, and from the sea of the rising of the
sun, I caused to dwell there. My representative and my gov-
ernor I placed over them. And Sanduarri, king of the cities of
Kundi and Sizu, a powerful enemy, who did not respect my lord-
ship, and whom had forsaken the gods, put his trust into the
impassable mountains, and Abdimilkuti, king of Sidon, went to
his assistance. The names of the great gods they appealed to
one by one, 4 and they trusted in their power. I trusted in Asur,
my lord, and, like a bird, from the midst of the mountains I drew

1 681-668 B.C.

2 Rogers, History of Babylonia and Assyria, II, p. 217.

3 i.e., Fortress of Esarhaddon. * ana-ahamis izkurti.

54 TO THE DESTRUCTION BY ESARH ADDON

him forth and cut off his head. In order to show to the people
the power of Asur, my lord, I hung the heads of Sanduarri and
Abdimilkuti upon the necks of their great men, and with male
singers and the playing of instruments I marched through the
streets of Nineveh." 1 A briefer account of the same event
reads : ' ' Abdimilkuti, king of Sidon, who did not fear my lord-
ship and did not regard the words of my mouth, who trusted in
the great sea and cast off my yoke, Sidon, the city of his con-
fidence, which was situated in the midst of the sea. ' ' 2 Accord-
ing to the Babylonian Chronicle B. 3 the campaign took place
in the fourth year of Esarhaddon, and the execution of the kings
in the following year. That at this time Sidon was independent
of Tyre, and Tyre of Sidon, is shown by the mention of Baal, king
of Tyre. 4

These inscriptions explain themselves. Esarhaddon made a
complete end of the city of Sidon, which since the time of the
Phoenician settlement along the shore of the Mediterranean had
maintained a position of more or less prominence. It was super-
seded by a new, Assyrian, city, in a different location, and in a
large measure with a non-Phcenician population.

1 1 R. 45, Col. 1, 11. 9-53.

2 The sentence is incomplete. Ill R. 15, Col. II, 11. 27-30; cp. Winckler,
Altorientalische Forschungen, II, p. 15, 1. 29.

3 Col. IV, B. Iff. 4 III R. 16, Col. V, I 13.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SIDON 55

CHAPTER IV

TO THE DESTRUCTION OF SIDON BY ARTAXERXES OCHUS

The destruction of Sidon by Esarhaddon could not have been
made more complete. However, it is not probable that all the
inhabitants were slain or deported. Many must have escaped
to the neighboring cities. This crisis in the history of Sidon
offers a suitable occasion for the alleged founding of Tyre by the
Sidonians. 1 Tyre had suffered much from Sennacherib and his
predecessors. It is not improbable, therefore, that, secretly at
least, her sympathies were with Sidon during the revolt. Only
when she beheld the terrible fate of her sister city, did her king
send presents to Esarhaddon. 2 What would be more natural
than that those inhabitants of Sidon who managed to escape
should take refuge in Tyre? These refugees were of the better
class of Sidonians, who in time came to occupy positions of
prominence in their new home. The deities and sacred tradi-
tions of their native city they carried with them, and Tyre became
the sole heir of everything that survived the awful catastrophe. 3
All the sanctity which belonged to Sidon as the first Phoenician
settlement on the Mediterranean coast passed to Tyre, and there
continued to live the best elements of the destroyed city.

This transfer can in no sense be called a "founding" of Tyre,
but neither can the alleged migration of the Sidonians in the
twelfth century B.C., 4 for then also Tyre had existed as a city

1 See above, p. 24.

2 Baal is named first among the kings paying tribute, which may be an indi-
cation of special zeal on his part when he appeared before the king. A guilty
conscience may have prompted the excessive zeal.

3 The new city planted by Esarhaddon was not Phoenician ; its population
was of a different nationality, which made it impossible for it to become the
heir of the religious traditions and possessions of Sidon.

* Seep. 41.

56 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

of prominence for several centuries. And yet the migration of
large numbers of prominent Sidonians and the transfer of
Sidonian deities and traditions to Tyre might easily give rise,
in the course of centuries, to a tradition such as is preserved by
Justin. If this interpretation is correct, we must assume that
an original "king of Assyria" was corrupted in the course of
transmission into "king of Ascalon." 1

The new city stood upon the mainland. It was in no sense a
Phoenician city; it had an Assyrian name, was ruled by an
Assyrian governor, had a non-Phoenician population, 2 and there-
fore also non-Phoenician deities and customs; but it was situated
in the midst of powerful Phoenician influences, which it could
not withstand permanently. Slowly perhaps, but steadily, the
Assyrian city became a Phoenician city, bearing the familiar name
Sidon, though for some time it seems to have remained under the
control of Assyrian governors, who continued loyal to the Assyr-
ian kings down to the fall of the Assyrian power. The years of
quietness and peace enabled the young city to develop her
resources and opportunities.

After the fall of Nineveh in 607/606, the Chaldean kingdom
took the place of Assyria. Unfortunately the inscriptions of the
Chaldean kings say practically nothing of affairs in the west.
The only exception is a brief remark of Nebuchadrezar : ' ' With
his — i.e., Marduk's — exalted assistance I penetrated distant lands
and mountain regions, from the upper sea to the lower sea. ' '■
Not once is Sidon mentioned. A little more information con-
cerning this period of Sidon' s history may be gathered from the
Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah names Sidon in three
passages. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign he received the
command to announce the exile of Judah, its restoration, and the
subsequent judgment upon the nations of the earth. In this
connection he mentions ' ' all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings

1 So v. Landau, Der Alte Orient, II, 4, p. 24; Winckler, Altorientalische For-
schungen, I, p. 440. <£*

a I R. 45, Col. 1, 11. 31-34. s I R. 53, Col. II, 11. 12ff.

THE CHALDEAN SUPREMACY 57

of Sidon." 1 In the beginning of Zedekiah's reign 2 he is com-
manded : ' ' Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy
neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of
Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre,
and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers which
have come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah, king of Judah. ' ' 3 The
symbolical act to be performed is interpreted in v. 6 : " And now
I have given all of these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, my servant. ' '* The prophet names Sidon
again in a message directed against the Philistines, 5 in which he
announces the cutting off from Tyre and Sidon of ' ' every helper
that remaineth. ' ,6

To a slightly later period belong the utterances of Ezekiel.
Chapter 27 of his prophecies contains an oracle against Tyre.
Speaking of the wealth and influence of Tyre, he calls the inhabi-
tants of Sidon the "mariners" of Tyre, who have assisted the
latter in the accumulation of her riches. 7 The destruction of
Sidon he announces in 28 : 20-23 : ' ' Behold, I am against thee,
Sidon; and I will glorify myself in the midst of thee, and they
shall know that I am Yahweh, when I execute judgment in her,
and I shall show myself holy in her. Yea, I will send unto her
pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall be
judged in the midst of her by the sword which is against her from
every side, and they shall know that I am Yahweh. ' ' Chapter
32 presents a vision of Sheol, and of the nations to be imprisoned
there. One sentence reads: "There are the princes of the
north, all of them; and all the Sidonians, which are gone down
with the slain. ' ' 8

Of these the only passage of much historical importance is Jer.

1 25 : 22.

2 27 : 1. The present Hebrew text reads: "In the beginning of the reign
of Jehoiakim"; but vv. 3, 12, 20; 28 : 1 make it plain that the beginning of
Zedekiah's reign is meant. The Septuagint omits the verse.

3 27: 2, 3. 4 Cp. also vv. 7-11.
8 47 : 1. This message was delivered "before Pharaoh smote Gaza," i.e.,

probably in 608.

• v. 4. 7 v. 8. 8 v. 30

58 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

27 : 3. From it may be inferred that after the withdrawal of
Nebuchadrezar from Jerusalem in 597, and the accession of
Zedekiah, an attempt was made by the vassal princes in the west
to form a confederacy against the Chaldean monarch; and further,
that at that time Sidon had recovered sufficiently from the
blow struck by Esarhaddon, less than a century before, to give
to it a place by the side of Tyre, though it may not have been
equally powerful. Indeed, Ez. 27 : 8 implies that Tyre was
superior. In the same direction points the fact that the utter-
ances of both prophets against Tyre are much more lengthy and
numerous than those against Sidon, and the stubborn resistance
which subsequently Tyre offered to the prolonged attacks of
Nebuchadrezar. 1 In addition to the Biblical statements, one
passage in Herodotus refers to this period of Sidonian history.
In it the Greek historian relates that Apries, Pharaoh of Egypt,
marched an army against Sidon and fought a sea battle with the
king of Tyre. 2

Only a very general notion of the progress of events can be
gained from these few notes. It would seem that down to the
fall of the Assyrian empire in 606, or at least to the expedition
of Necho into Phoenicia and Syria, Sidon submitted quietly to the
Assyrian rule. However, after the death of Asurbanapal in 626
B.C., it must have become evident to all observers that the
Assyrian supremacy was doomed; hence, when Necho advanced
into northern Syria, the Phoenician cities must have felt that
submission to him was the only safe and wise policy, and Sidon,
with the other cities, yielded to him with very little opposition. 3
The battle of Carchemish resulted in the withdrawal of Egypt
from western Asia, and in the ascendency of the new Chaldean
empire under Nebuchadrezar. The fortunes of the Phoenician
cities could not be affected by the change, and since there was

1 Josephus, Ant., X, 11, 1; cp. Cont. Ap., I, 20, 21.

2 II, 161; cp. also Diodorus, Bibliotheca historica, I, 68.

3 Fragments of a stela dating from Necho's supremacy in Phoenicia, and
bearing his name in hieroglyphics have been found at Sidon; Breasted, History
of Egypt, p. 583. See further below, p. 152.

EXPEDITION OF NEBUCHADREZAR 59

no special incentive for them to adhere to Egypt, they readily
yielded to the new master. But Egypt was not content, and
immediately the Pharaoh resumed the policy practiced in past
generations, of stirring up trouble in Palestine and Syria, and he
succeeded in persuading Jehoiakim of Judah to revolt. During
the early troubles of Judah the Phoenician cities appear to have
maintained a neutral attitude, but in the end the Egyptian
efforts proved successful there also, and after the first exile 1 and
the accession of Zedekiah all the vassal states in and around
Palestine were ready to join in a revolt against Nebuchadrezar. 2
In this the Phoenician cities were not prompted by love for
Egypt, but simply by a desire to recover complete political
independence, which they had lost to Assyria centuries earlier.
When Nebuchadrezar finally turned westward, his first expedi-
tion was directed against Jerusalem. The Pharaoh of Egypt
came to the aid of the city, but could accomplish nothing. 3 The
other rebels, whose courage failed in the presence of the great
conqueror, kept aloof, or even joined the Chaldeans in their
attack upon Judah. 4 After the destruction of Jerusalem and
Nebuchadrezar's withdrawel, Apries of Egypt 5 thought that an
opportune moment had arrived to punish the Phoenician cities
for their disloyalty after the battle of Carchemish and their
failure to come to the aid of the Pharaoh in 588. This punitive
expedition must have been undertaken in the years immediately
after the fall of Jerusalem. Apries conquered the Tyrians at sea
and took Sidon, whereupon the other Phoenician cities yielded. 6
But it seems that the Egyptians could not maintain permanently
their hold on Phoenicia, for shortly afterward Nebuchadrezar
appeared upon the scene once more, fighting, not against Egypt,
but against Tyre, which at that time evidently enjoyed complete
independence. The siege of the city continued for thirteen years, 7
and the probability is that even then the island city was still in

1 In 597. 2 Jer. 27 : Iff. ; see note 2 on p. 57. 3 Jer. 37.

4 Ez. 26 : 2. 8 588-570 B.C. • Diodorus, Bibl. hist., I, 68.

7 Josephus, Cont. Ap., I, 21; quoted from Menander.

60 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

the hands of the defenders. Concerning the outcome Ezekiel
says : ' ' Yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyre, for the service
which he rendered against her; therefore, thus saith the Lord
Yahweh, behold, I will give to Nebuchadrezar, king of Babylon,
the land of Egypt. ' n From this one may safely infer that the
city did not fall into the power of Nebuchadrezar; at the same
time, other statements in the immediate context show that Tyre
suffered severe losses. The outcome was, in all probability, a
compromise, which may have involved a nominal submission
to the Chaldeans and the payment of tribute. 2 Whatever the
exact terms of peace, the thirteen-year struggle sapped the
resources of Tyre, and gave Sidon an excellent opportunity to
press to the front. The sufferings of Tyre taught the other
Phoenician cities a valuable lesson, for during the remaining
years of the Chaldean supremacy in western Asia all appear
to have borne their fate patiently.

The Chaldean empire fell before Cyrus in 538 B.C., and its
numerous vassal states fell into his hands. 3 His treatment of
the Jews is one illustration of the leniency which he showed
toward all his foreign subjects, and so far as Phoenicia is con-
cerned his rule was purely nominal; the Phoenician cities enjoyed
a practical independence, as they must have done under the
weak successors of Nebuchadrezar. Indeed, the relation
between the early kings of Persia and the Phoenicians was more
that of allies than of conquerors and conquered. Such friendly
understanding would prove mutually advantageous. It would
furnish the Persians with a fleet, without which it was impossible
for the Persian kings to carry out their vast schemes; 4 on the

1 29 : 18, 19.

2 Cp. Rogers, History of Babylonia and Assyria, II, p. 338. Chronological
data concerning this siege are nowhere supplied. Many scholars believe that
it was contemporaneous with the wars against Judah, and they date it 598-
585 ; a later date, 585-572, is in better accord with the course of events during
this period.

3 Xenophon, Cyrop&dia, I, 1, 4.

4 The entire sea service of Cambyses depended upon the Phoenicians ;
Herodotus, Historia, III, 19.

THE PERSIAN SUPREMACY 61

other hand, it would assure the Phoenicians the protection of a
powerful empire, which they needed if they would carry out suc-
cessfully their extensive commercial enterprises. A certain
independence of the Phoenicians is implied in the respect with
which the king treated their refusal to proceed against Carthage, 1
as also in the fact that throughout the entire Persian period the
Phoenician cities were ruled by Phoenician kings, 2 though these
kings paid tribute to the Persian monarchs. 3 Another indication
of it is the holding of the annual council at Tripolis, in which
were discussed, ordinarily without interference from the Persians,
matters of interest to all Phoenicians. 4

The statements of ancient classical writers make it plain that
during this entire period Sidon stood out as the most prominent
city of Phoenicia. 5 ' ' In wealth and resources, ' ' says Diodorus,
1 ' Sidon surpassed by far all the other Phoenician cities. ' ,6 The
Persian kings selected Sidon as their temporary residence,
whenever their duties called them westward; in or near Sidon
was a royal park, where they were accustomed to hold court on
such occasions. 7 In war also Sidon took the lead; at a later
time it was able, with the aid of hired mercenaries, to inflict a
severe defeat upon the Persian generals. 8 In the war against the
Greeks the eighty vessels of the Phoenicians were under the
command of the king of the Sidonians, 9 and in battle the
Sidonians were the bravest and most courageous fighters in
the Persian fleet. 10

1 Herodotus, III, 19. 2 Ibid., VIII, 67. 3 Ibid., Ill, 91 .

* Diodorus, XVI, 41. 5 Ibid., XVI, 44 ; cp. 41, 45 .

9 The Old Testament contains only one reference to the history of Sidon
during the early Persian period. "They (the post-exilic Jews) gave money
also unto the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil unto the
Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from the Lebanon by sea to Joppa,
according to the decree which Cyrus, king of Persia, had given to them";
Ezra 3:7. The mention of Sidon before Tyre — cp. also 1 Chr. 22 : 4 — is in
perfect accord with the historical situation during the Persian period, when
Sidon was the more prominent city.

7 Diodorus, Bibliotheca historica, XVI, 41.

8 Ibid., XVI, 42; see further below, p. 65.

8 Ibid., XIV, 79. 10 Ibid., XI, 13

62 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

Herodotus also frequently alludes to the preeminence of Sidon.
When Democedes was ordered to proceed to Greece as the guide
of the Persians, ' ' the men went down to Phoenicia, to Sidon, the
Phoenician city, where straightway they fitted out two triremes
and a trading vessel." 1 Sidon seems to have been at that time
a common starting point for Persian ships. While at Abydos,
Xerxes ordered his ships to engage in a sailing match, which was
won by the Phoenicians of Sidon, much to the joy of Xerxes. 2
The superiority of the Sidonians is emphasized again in another
passage : ' ' The Phoenician ships were the best sailers in the fleet,
and the Sidonian the best among the Phoenician. ' ,3 Among
the most renowned leaders of the Persian fleet, next to the
commanders, is named in first place Tetramnestos, the son of
Anysos the Sidonian. 4 The excellence of the Sidonian ships is
emphasized once more when it is said of the five triremes fur-
nished by Artemisia, that next to the Sidonian these were the
most famous ships in the fleet. 5 Because of this superior excel-
lence Xerxes embarked ordinarily in a Sidonian vessel. "He
exchanged his chariot for a Sidonian galley and, seated beneath
a golden awning, sailed along the prows of all the vessels." 8
* ' Embarking, as was his wont, aboard a Sidonian vessel. ' ' 7 The
king of Sidon occupied the first place among the vassals of
Xerxes. "So he came and seated himself in the seat of honor ;
and the sovereigns of the nations, and the captains of the ships,
were summoned to appear in his presence; and as they arrived
they took their seats according to the rank assigned to them
by the king. In the first seat sat the king of Sidon; after him,
the king of Tyre; then the rest in their order." 8

The passages to which reference has been made mention
specifically Sidon or the Sidonians. In addition, many refer-
ences are found to the Phoenicians in general, who were of much
service to the Persians in all their enterprises, but especially in

1 Herodotus, III, 136. 2 Ibid., VII, 44.

\Ibid., VII, 96; cp. Diodorus, XI, 13. * Ibid., VII, 98.

8 Ibid., VII, 99. • Ibid., VII, 100.

7 Ibid., VII, 128. 8 Ibid., VIII, 67.

PREEMINENCE OF SIDON 63

the Grecian wars. In many cases Sidonians must be included
in the more comprehensive term Phoenicians. From these
specific statements, and from others of a more general character,
it may be safely inferred that for about two centuries after the
siege of Tyre by Nebuchadrezar, Sidon occupied the first place
among the cities of Phoenicia. 1 In a large measure this was due
to the losses suffered by Tyre during the thirteen-year siege;
a partial explanation may be found also in the composite char-
acter of the population of the city established by Esarhaddon. 2

When in the early years of the fourth century B.C. the Per-
sians interfered in the quarrels which broke out between the
Grecian states, the Phoenicians again played a prominent part.
In 394, in the naval battle of Cnidus, the presence of Phoenician
ships enabled the Athenians to recover the naval supremacy lost
at iEgos-Potami; 3 and the demands of the Persian king in the
' ' peace of Antalcidas, ' ' in 387, were complied with because the
Greeks knew that he was able to enforce them by means of the
Phoenician fleet. To services such as were rendered at Cnidus
must be traced, in part at least, the good feeling between Phoe-
nicia and Greece, especially Athens, evidences of which begin
to show themselves during the fourth century B.C. The
Athenians would be prompted by a sense of gratitude and by the
hope that in future struggles they might win the support of the
Phoenicians. On the other hand, the latter were beginning to
grow restless under the Persian rule. If it should come to a
struggle with Persia, an alliance with the Greeks was not to be
despised. Besides, their commercial interests might be ad-
vanced by a closer union. The extent of the Persian empire to

1 Kenrick says (Phoenicia, p. 406) : "In the incidental mention of Phoenician
affairs we thus gain from the Greek historians, Tyre appears as the predominant
state in naval strength, while Sidon was the most flourishing and wealthy. ' '
The testimony of the ancient writers shows that in naval affairs also Sidon
had surpassed Tyre.

1 That the influence of the Assyrian colonists was felt for centuries is seen
from the presence of elements representing the names of Assyrian deities in
names of Sidonians belonging to a much later period. See below, p. 125ff.

3 Diodorus, XIV, 83.

64 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

India gave new impetus to the commerce between the Orient
and the Occident. The Phoenicians were the commercial media-
tors; 1 hence the maintenance of pleasant relations with pros-
pective customers in the west was an important consideration
with all the coast cities of Phoenicia. It was at about this time
that Phoenicians began to settle in large numbers in Attica, par-
ticularly at Phalerum and the Piraeus, where they had their own
places of worship and interment. 3 In the establishment of these
colonies and of the better relations in general the Sidonians had
an important part. Of the six Phoenician sepulchral inscriptions
found in Athens and the Piraeus, 3 three commemorate persons
belonging to families of Sidonians. 4

To the same general period belongs the decree of the Council
of Athens, 5 which establishes the relation of Proxenia between
Strato (mntPyDy), king of Sidon, and the Athenian people,
and exempts all Sidonians in Attica from the tax usually imposed
upon foreigners, from the obligation of the Choregia, and from
all other contributions to the State. This is the same Strato as
the king of Sidon of whose luxury and extravagance speak
Theopompos 8 and iElianus. 7 The latter says: "One singer was
not enough for Strato, to entertain him with his melody at the
banquet table; hence there appeared a multitude of female sing-
ers and players of the flute, concubines of the most beautiful
form, and dancers. He also did his best to surpass Nicocles, 8 as
the latter sought to surpass him. But these two vied with one
another not in a matter of importance; no, only in that of which
I have spoken. ' '

Toward the close of the fifth century the power of the Persians
began to decline, and in a little while the loyalty of Phoenicia
commenced to waver. It is not impossible that Phoenicia

1 See below, p. 114ff.

2 An altar found at the Pirseus also witnesses to the presence of Phoenicians
there. C. I. S., I, No. 118.

3 C. I. S., 1, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121. 4 C. I. S., 1, 115, 116, 119.
8 C. I. G., I, 87; C. I. A., II, 86. • Fragment 126, ed.Wichers, p. 35.
7 Varia historia, VII, 2. 8 King of Salamis.

REVOLT OF SIDON 65

sympathized with the revolt which Euagoras raised in Cyprus in
392 or 391, 1 though it did not rebel openly until 362. 2 In this
revolt Strato became involved, and when it broke down his
life was in danger. That he might not be taken by the Persians,
he determined to take his own life. At the last moment he
hesitated; then his wife, knowing that no time could be lost,
wrested the weapon from his hand and pierced his side. 3 More
serious trouble arose about ten years later, during the reign of
Artaxerxes Ochus. At the annual council of the Phoenicians at
Tripolis the Persian satraps and generals treated the Sidonians
with such arrogance that they decided to break away from the
Persians. The other Phoenician states were persuaded to join,
and Nectanebus of Egypt promised his support. Extensive
preparations were made for the ensuing struggle. Many triremes
were gathered; mercenaries were secured; arms, provisions, and
everything else that was needed were speedily procured. The
first act of hostility was the cutting down of the trees in the
royal park in or near Sidon; then the hay stored for the use of the
Persian cavalry was set on fire, and the Persians who had par-
ticipated in the outrages against the Sidonians were punished.

When the news of the revolt reached the ears of the king, he
uttered threats against all the Phoenicians, and especially
against the Sidonians. As soon as he could collect his forces, he
set out from Babylon with an army consisting of 300,000 footmen
and 30,000 horsemen, besides a great number of ships. 4 While
he was still on the march, two Persian satraps, Belesys of Syria
and Mazseus of Cilicia, attacked the Phoenicians; but Tennes, 5 the
king of Sidon, with the aid of Greek mercenaries under the leader-
ship of Mentor of Rhodes, who had been furnished by the king
of Egypt, inflicted a severe defeat upon them and drove them
from Phoenicia. Then the kings of Cyprus revolted, but before

1 Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia, p. 500. J Diodorus, XV, 90.

3 Jerome, adv. Jovinianus, I, 45. * Diod., XVI, 40.

6 On the coins of Tennes appear the two letters #J\ See below, p. 158.
What they stand for is not certain ; perhaps they form the first letters of the
two elements of which the name is composed, mntyy-jn ? M

66 TO ARTAXERXES OCHUS

they could send aid to the rebels on the mainland they were
pressed by the Persian armies.

When Tennes heard of the approach of Artaxerxes at the head
of a powerful army, he lost heart and became troubled about his
own personal safety. Secretly he dispatched a trusty servant
to the Persian king with an offer that he would deliver up Sidon
and aid the king in the conquest of Egypt, if he would spare his
life. Meanwhile the Sidonians lost no time. They stored in the
city provisions and arms in abundance; they strengthened the
walls of the city, and beyond them they dug threefold trenches.
The city was defended by large numbers of well-equipped and
well-trained native soldiers and hired mercenaries. In the harbor
lay more than a hundred triremes and quinqueremes.

Mentor had been persuaded to become a party to the treachery
of Tennes. While he was left in the city to carry out the plans
there, the latter went out under the pretext that he was going
to a general council of the Phoenicians. Under the same pretext
he took with him one hundred of the most prominent citizens of
Sidon. As they neared the camp of the king, he ordered the
arrest of the one hundred and delivered them to Artaxerxes, who
ordered them slain. When the soldiers accompanying Tennes
became aware of the treachery they prayed for mercy, but the
Persian king, who desired to set a terrible example, paid no heed.
On the approach of the king the mercenaries opened the gate for
him, but when Artaxerxes had become master of the city and
had no further use for Tennes, he ordered the traitor killed.

When the Sidonians, who had meanwhile given orders that all
the ships in the harbor should be burned, so that no one might
be tempted to run away, saw the treachery, they, with their
wives and children, shut themselves up into their houses and
set fire to them. More than forty thousand persons are said
to have perished in the flames. 1 The ruins the king sold for a
big sum of money, for it was thought that much gold and silver
would be found in the ruins of the wealthy city. When the other

1 Is. 23 : 4, 12, may reflect this calamity."

FALL OF THE CITY 67

Phoenician cities heard of the terrible fate of Sidon they gave
up all resistance. 1

This awful calamity made an end of the second city of Sidon in
351 B.C.

1 Diodorus, XVI, 41-45.

68 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

CHAPTER V

TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

Either the account of Diodorus is fearfully exaggerated, or
the men who settled upon the ruins were men of extraordinary
genius and energy. At any rate, in less than twenty years the
city was rebuilt, commerce resumed, the ancient prosperity
recovered, and Sidon was once more a city of prominence.

Meanwhile a dark cloud had arisen on the western horizon,
which was about to break into a tempest which in a short time
would sweep away the Persian empire. As early as 338 Philip
of Macedonia had planned an expedition against Persia, and
one of the first acts of Alexander after ascending the throne, in
336, was to demand that he be placed at the head of the expedi-
tion which had been delayed. 1 In 334 he crossed the Hellespont
into Asia. The first engagement with the Persians was fought
on the banks of the Granicus and resulted in a victory for
Alexander. Toward the close of the following year, after Asia
Minor had submitted to the Macedonian conqueror, the two
armies met again at Issus, and again the Persians suffered a
decisive defeat. Phoenicia was a formidable foe on account of
its powerful navy, which was still at the command of the Per-
sian king, who might use it for an attack upon the coast of Greece.
If Alexander could attach this navy to himself, he would
strengthen thereby his own position on the sea, and at the same
time would free his homeland from a threatening danger. Accord-
ingly, after sending a detachment of troops into Syria, he him-
self proceeded in the direction of Phoenicia. The Phoenicians
saw that they must choose quickly between Alexander and the
Persians, and almost without exception they cast their lot with
the former. Strato of Arados surrendered Arados, Marathos,

1 Arrianus, Anabasis, I, 1.

CONQUESTS OF ALEXANDER 69

Sigon, Mariamne, and all his other possessions. 1 Byblos and
Sidon, which had much reason to hate the Persians, and had
everything to gain and nothing to lose by the change, received
him with open arms. 2 Tyre alone resisted, but after a seven
months' siege it was taken and terribly punished. 3 The siege
was directed from Sidon, 4 and the Sidonians furnished some
assistance to the Macedonians; 5 but when the city was finally
taken, many of the Tyrians "were saved by the Sidonians, who
constituted a part of Alexander's force. The latter had entered
the city with the victors, but remembering their relationship
with the Tyrians — inasmuch as they believed Agenor to have
founded both cities — they offered protection to a number of the
citizens, took them on board their ships, and secretly conveyed
them to Sidon. Fifteen thousand were thus saved." 8

An interesting story is told by Curtius 7 concerning the appoint-
ment of a new king in Sidon : ' ' Strato, its king, was secretly sold
to the Persians, because his recent submission had been more of a
temporizing compliance with the wishes of his subjects than a
voluntary act; for which reason Alexander deemed him un-
worthy of the throne. Whereupon the Macedonian victor
authorized Hepheestion to raise to the vacant throne the individ-
ual among the Sidonians who was most distinguished by merit.
Now Hephsestion lodged and was entertained at the home of two
brothers, young men of brilliant reputation among their fellow-
citizens. To these he offered the kingship, but they successively
refused it, on the ground that it was contrary to the laws of the
country to elevate to that dignity any other than a member of
the royal family. Hephsestion, admiring the greatness of soul
which induced them to reject that which to obtain others employ
fire and slaughter, spoke thus : ' Cultivate those virtuous prin-
ciples, till now without example, through which you are able to

1 Arrianus, II, 13.

2 Ibid., II, 15; Curtius, IV, 3; cp. Josephus, Ant., XI, 8, 3.

8 Arrianus, II, 15ff. ; Curtius, IV, 7ff.; Diodorus, XVII, 40ff.

1 Arrianus, II, 19, 20. B Ibid., II, 20; Curtius, IV, 18.

• Curtius, IV, 18. 7 Ibid., IV, 3, 4.

70 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

perceive how much better it is to reject a diadem than to accept
it. Name, however, some person of the royal family who may
remember when he is king that he is indebted to you for his
power.' Now they knew of many who courted servilely the
favorites of Alexander and grasped ambitiously after the
dazzling prize with impatient solicitude, but they announced that
no one deserved it more than Abdalominus, 1 who, though re-
motely related to the royal family, was so reduced in circum-
stances that he worked in the suburbs as a gardener for a small
stipend. As is not uncommon, his penury was the result of his
uprightness. Intent upon his daily labor, he had not yet become
aware of the clashing of arms which shook all Asia.

" Suddenly the two disinterested Sidonians, bearing the robes
and insignia of royalty, entered the garden where Abdalominus
was rooting up the weeds. After saluting him as king, one of
them addressed him: 'This splendid dress I bring in exchange
for your sordid covering. Wash from your body its accustomed
dirt. Assume the mind of a king; but in your dignity, which is
well merited, retain your frugality and moderation; and when
seated on the throne, holding the life and death of the citizens
in your power, do not forget the condition in which you were
when a sceptre was placed in your hand, nor the purpose for which
you are appointed king. ' This address affected Abdalominus as
a dream. Recovering himself, he asked them if they were in
their senses; then, how they could ridicule him so wantonly.
In the stupor of surprise and doubt he made no effort to restore
himself to beauty and cleanliness; passively he submitted to the
necessary ablutions, and to be clothed in an embroidered mantle
of purple and gold. Induced by their oaths to believe that they
were in earnest, and that they were authorized to make him king,
he at length permitted them to conduct him to the palace.
Rumor quickly circulated the news of the transaction. Some
were pleased, others were indignant. The opulent acrimoniously
displayed to Alexander's friends the low occupation and the

1 Called also Abdalonimus, which is more accurate; in Phoenician DjSjn3j\

ABDALOMINUS MADE KING 71

poverty of Abdalominus. Alexander ordered him to be brought
in his presence. After he had surveyed him carefully, he said:
'My friend, your manner and bearing are not at variance with
the account of your extraction. Allow me, therefore, to inquire
with what degree of contentment you bore indigence.' Abda-
lominus replied: 'Would to God I may bear the weight of a
kingdom with equal tranquility. These hands ministered
sufficiently to my necessities. I possessed nothing; I wanted
nothing.' The Macedonian king, perceiving in this answer the
expression of a noble spirit, not only ordered that the royal
possessions of Strato should be delivered to Abdalominus, but
in addition enriched him with presents of the Persian plunder,
and annexed to his jurisdiction as king of Sidon a contiguous
tract of country. ' n

The Phoenician cities remained loyal to Alexander up to the
close of his life; Phoenicians accompanied his armies for purposes
of trading, and Phoenician ships proved of great value to him in
his military enterprises. 2

After the death of Alexander, Syria, including Phoenicia, fell
to Laomedon, 3 who was displaced by Ptolemy of Egypt in 320. 4
Five years later he was supplanted by Antigonus. 5 All of the
cities of Phoenicia welcomed the latter gladly, with the excep-
tion of Tyre, which was occupied after a siege lasting fifteen
months, during which Antigonus had the support of the other
Phoenician cities. Shipyards were established at Sidon, Beyrut,
and Tripolis, and with the aid of the ships constructed
in these places 6 Tyre was reduced. 7 Notwithstanding
these successes of Antigonus, the struggle between him and

1 The same story is told in Justin, XI, 10; cp. also some MSS. of Pollux, VI,
19; but in Diodorus, XVII, 46, 47, it is transferred to Tyre; in Plutarch, de Alex-
andri fortuna, II, 8, to Paphos. The king of Tyre at this time was Azemilkus
(■praiy), who was pardoned by Alexander — Arr., II, 24; therefore Diodorus
cannot be right. Doubt is thrown upon the correctness of Plutarch's state-
ment by the fact that none of the original biographers of Alexander ever speak
of him as having been in Paphos.

2 Arrianus, VII, 19. 3 Diodorus, XVIII, 3. 4 Ibid., XVIII, 43.
s Ibid., XIX, 58. 6 Ibid., XIX, 58. 7 Ibid., XIX, 61.

72 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

Ptolemy continued for many years. In 312 Ptolemy came once
more into possession of Phoenicia, but almost immediately he
was displaced again by his foe. 1 An attack made by the latter
upon Egypt in 307 failed, and soon afterward the sea coast of
Phoenicia, with the exception of Sidon, fell again into the hands
of Ptolemy. He proceeded to reduce it, but when the rumor
reached him that Antigonus had been successful against Seleucus,
and was now on his way into Syria, he made a truce with the city
and returned to Egypt. 2 When Antigonus died, portions of
Phoenicia, including Sidon, passed to his son Demetrius. Seleu-
cus demanded the surrender of these, and a prolonged struggle
arose, which resulted finally in Phoenicia becoming a province
of Egypt, 3 and it remained an Egyptian dependency until 197
B.C. 4 Even before the last mentioned date several attempts
were made by the Seleucidae to recover Syria and Phoenicia.
Antiochus the Great came near the goal in 218, when
treachery deliverd Tyre and Acco into his hands, and the Egyp-
tian commander was defeated and compelled to take refuge in
Sidon. 5 However, in the succeeding year the fortunes of war
turned, Antiochus suffered a severe defeat, and Egypt remained
in possession. In 203 Antiochus renewed the attempt. At first
the Egyptians were successful, under the leadership of Scopas,
but finally they were routed at Panium, 6 and shut up in Sidon,
where they were compelled to surrender. 7

Under the sovereignty of the Ptolemies Sidon was permitted
to retain the kingship, and on the whole the period was one of
prosperity. The yoke of Egypt rested but lightly upon the
cities of Phoenicia, for the Pharaoh recognized the advantage
of having the good will of the coast cities, whose ships and sailors
would be of inestimable value in times of war. The latter part

1 Diodorus, XIX, 86. 2 Ibid., XX, 113.

3 Plutarch, Vit. Demetr., 32. The date of this event is still under dispute.
It is probable, however, that it occurred during the reign of Ptolemy I. Cp.
Mahaffy, The Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 131 ; Bevan, House of Seleucus, 1, 233.

4 Polybius, Histories, XVI, 18. Joseph., Ant., XII, 3, 3.

6 Polybius, V, 69, 70. B Ibid., XVI, 18. 7 Jerome, on Dan. 11 : 15.

THE EGYPTIAN SUPREMACY 73

of the fourth century and the first part of the third century
offer the most suitablejplace for the dynasty of Esmunazar, four
at least of whose rulers are known from the inscriptions. 1 The
first king whose name has been preserved is Esmunazar I., in all
probability the son and successor of Abdalominus — named by
his father *W,T JDt^N, i.e., Esmun helps, in grateful recogni-
tion of the honor bestowed upon him by Alexander. 2 Of his
reign nothing is known. He was succeeded' by his son Tabnit,
who calls himself the priest of Astart. He reigned only a little
while, and was succeeded by his son Esmunazar II., who, being
still a child, had as co-regent his mother Em- Astart. During their
reign of fourteen years the dominion of Sidon was extended
over Dor and Joppa. "In compensation for the heavy price
paid by me, the lord of kings 3 bestowed upon us Dor and Joppa,
the magnificent grain districts in the plain of Sharon, and we
added them to the territory, so that they became forever the
possession of the Sidonians. ' '* The details of this, transaction
are obscure. It cannot be shown, nor is it probable, that the
cities were given to Esmunazar in return for services rendered in
war. It is much more likely that Esmunazar's share consisted
in the payment of a large amount of money. Dor, and perhaps
also Joppa, had belonged to Sidon previous to the conquests of
Alexander; 5 there is no indication that he took away any of
Sidon's possessions; on the contrary, the tradition is that he
enlarged the territory of Abdalominus. 6 It is easy to see how,
during the troublesome period subsequent to Alexander's death,
the claims of Sidon might be disregarded. But the possessions
in the fertile plain of Sharon were too valuable to be given up
without a struggle; hence Esmunazar and his mother, in order
to substantiate and reinforce their claims, paid an adequate
sum of money to the Egyptian king, who confirmed their claims
in return. Only then were they free to incorporate the cities

1 The date of the dynasty is discussed more fully on p. 148ff .
a See above, p. 71. s The king of Egypt; see below, p. 150.

« C. I. S., I, No. 3, 11. 18, 19. 6 Scylax, Periplus, ed. Hudson, p. 42.

* See above, p. 71, the closing sentence of the narrative of Curtius.

74 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

into their kingdom "forever." Within the city itself the two
rulers engaged in extensive building enterprises. The temples
destroyed in 351 were not yet rebuilt in their former splendor,
and Esmunazar and his mother sought to win the favor of the
chief deities of the city by restoring their ancient dwelling
places. 1 Esmunazar died while he was still a young man, 2 and
was succeeded by Bod-Astart, who erected a magnificent temple
for Esmun on the south side of the Nahr-al-Auwaly. The ruins
of this temple reveal the fact that the building was completed
in two stages, separated from each other by a number of years,
but both belonging to the reign of Bod-astart, an indication
that his reign continued for many years. 3 He had a son Sedek-
yathon, who, however, does not seem to have ascended the
throne, perhaps because he preceded his father to the grave.
When the ruling dynasty died out, the Pharaoh, Ptolemy II,
placed upon the throne of Sidon his or/oar^rf?, Philocles,
the son of Apollodorus (ffi*£)t5H) 4 who had rendered valuable
services to the king. This happened about 280 B.C. 5 At about
this time a Sidonian Apollonides, the son of Demetrius, received
the honor of proxenos and benefactor, and the right to acquire
landed property in Attica, for services rendered to Attic merchants
and sailors. 6 This Apollonides has been identified with the father

1 C. I. S., I, No. 3, 11. 15-18.

1 But not a mere child; see Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, I, p. 150.

1 Mitteilungen der Vorder-Asiat. Ges., 1905, p. Iff.

* C. I. A., II, No. 1371 ; Bulletin de corresp. hell., IV, 327ff., where it is shown
that Philocles should be connected with Ptolemy II rather than with Ptolemy
I, and where his date is placed between 306 and 266. Also XIV, 407, 409. In
Bulletin de corr. hell., XV, 137, an earlier date is suggested; cp. also EncycL
Bibl., art. Phoenicia, but the date given above is to be preferred.

6 To this event refers Theocritus, Idyl., XVII, I. 110, and not, as Clermont-
Ganneau thinks, to the giving of Dor and Joppa to Esmunazar. Cp. Cler.-
Gan. in Annales du Musee Guimet, X, p. 508; Rec. d'arch. orient., I, p. 285.
The discoveries in the ruins of the Esmun temple, which point to a long reign
of Bod-aStart, make impossible the view of the same author {Rev. arch. r
1892, p. 119) that Philocles established a claim upon the throne of Sidon by
marrying Em-AStart. The identification of Philocles with Tabnit — Winckler,
A . O. F., II, p. 295ff. — is also unwarranted.

8 C.I. A., II, 171.

THE ESMUNAZAR DYNASTY 75

of Philocles, 1 and in the fact that the latter belonged to a
prominent Sidonian family has been seen a partial explanation
for the son's exaltation; but the identification seems unwarranted.

It has been claimed that at the time of Esmunazar's death,
or soon after, a republican form of government was introduced
in Sidon. 2 Our more complete knowledge of the reign of Bod-
astart makes this view impossible. If such government did
exist in the third century B.C., of which there is no conclusive
evidence, it cannot have been introduced until after the death
of Philocles. The chief argument is drawn from a Phoenician
inscription 3 which contains the expression, ' ' in the fifteenth
year of the people of Sidon." This expression may, indeed,,
imply the existence of a republican form of government in
Sidon, but it is by no means certain that the inscription dates
from the third century B.C. Most of the translators assign it
to a later period when, we know, a republican form of govern-
ment existed in the city. If, however, palseographical consid-
erations should compel us in the end to assign it to an earlier
date, 4 we may assume that after the death of Philocles a repub-
lic was established, perhaps c. 275 B.C., when a republican form
of government was introduced also in Tyre.

The change from the sovereignty of the Ptolemies to that of
the Seleucidse may not have been unwelcome to Sidon and Tyre r
for they must have looked with envy upon the rapidly growing
city of Alexandria, which threatened to rob them of their com-
mercial supremacy. As the Sidonians had formerly furnished
ships to the Persians, to Alexander, and to the Ptolemies, so
now they assisted Antiochus in his wars. 5 But the Seleucid
supremacy was not destined to continue very long. During the
latter part of the second century the empire commenced to

1 E. Meyer, in Encycl. Bibl., art. Phoenicia. 2 Ibid.

3 Hoffmann, Ueber einige phonikische Inschriften, No. 1.

4 See C. I. A., II, supplem. 1335b; but the Phoenician inscriptions are still
too few to set up valid palseographical standards.

5 Livy, Historia, XXXVII, 30; 1 Mac. 5 : 15.

76 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

break up; possession after possession was lost, and in 111 Sidon
secured complete autonomy. 1

From the second century on the inscriptions bear witness
that the relationship between Phoenicia and Greece continued
to be very close. Sons of Phoenician parents are found in the
corps of the Attic ephebi; 2 Phoenicians figure as victors in the
gymnastic contests at Athens, 3 at Cos, 4 at Delos. 5 Artists from
Phoenicia are also mentioned, 6 and Strabo names philosophers
whose homes were in Tyre and Sidon. 7 As at the earlier period,
the Sidonians stand out more prominently than the inhabitants
of any other city of Phoenicia; the majority of the Phoenicians
named in these inscriptions are Sidonians.

When the kingdom of the Seleucidse was dissolved in 64 B.C.,
Syria and Phoenicia became a Roman province. Like her pre-
decessors, Rome exercised her rule in a spirit of leniency, and
Sidon, with several other Phoenician cities, was permitted to
retain its autonomy. Julius Caesar addresses his decrees to the
"magistrates, senate, and people of Sidon." 8 The city had
become quite prosperous again, and its influence extended far
beyond its own borders. In one decree of Caesar 9 reference is
made to the payment of tribute by the Jews in Sidon, ' ' that they
pay their tribute in Sidon in the second year — of the sabbatic
period — the fourth part of what was sown." The same decree
speaks of exports from Joppa to Sidon, a certain percentage
of which was to be paid by the people of Joppa as a tribute to
Hyrcanus and his sons. Antony also respected the privileges
of Tyre and Sidon and, notwithstanding her persistent pleas,
he refused to present the two cities to Cleopatra. "Thus he
gave her the cities that were on this side of the river Eleutheros,

1 Gesenius, Monumenta, p. 264ff. ; Bevan, House of Seleucus, II, p. 256.

2 C. I. A., II, Nos. 467, 469, 471, 492.

3 C. I. A., II, Nos. 448, 498, 966, 968, 970.

4 Bulletin de cor. hell., V, 207. 5 Bulletin de cor. hell., VI, 146.

• C. I. A., II, 1318. 7 XVI, 2, 34.
8 Josephus, Ant., XIV, 10, 2; XIV, 10, 6.

• Ibid., XIV, 10, 6.

THE ROMAN SUPREMACY 77

as far as Egypt, excepting Tyre and Sidon, which he knew to
have been free cities from their ancestors, although she pressed
him very often to bestow these upon her also. ' * Sidon was not
very appreciative of these favors, for when the Parthians under
Pacorus invaded Phoenicia, the inhabitants opened the gates to
them without a moment's resistance. 2 On the other hand, in
the struggle between the several Roman factions they took the
part of Antony, their benefactor. Augustus remembered this,
and when he went to the East in 20 B.C., he deprived both Sidon
and Tyre of their freedom. 3 With this one exception, the rule
of Rome proved exceedingly advantageous to the two cities,
for the Romans cleared the Mediterranean Sea of the piratical
fleets which made navigation very dangerous. 4 Once more the
Phoenician ships could cross the waters without fear and fill the
coffers of the merchants at home. Of the two cities Tyre seems
to have been the more prominent, though Sidon was a close
second. 5 From this time on, however, neither city played a
prominent part politically, and until the time of the Crusades
they are named but rarely, Sidon even less frequently than
Tyre.

In the New Testament the two cities are named together ten
times, 6 in a manner which shows that they were two representa-

1 Josephus, Ant., XV, 4, 1; cp. also XIV, 12, 5, where is recorded a decree
addressed by him to the magistrates, senate, and people of jTyre, and § 6,
where the statement is made that the same thing was written to Sidon.

2 Josephus, Ant., XIV, 13, 13; cp. Bell. Jud., I, 13, 1.

3 Dion Cassius, Historia Romana, 54, 7.

4 Thucydides, De hello Peloponnesiaco, I, 4.

5 Mela, 1, 12, written perhaps during the reign of Claudius, contains the words
adhuc opulenta Sidon. That Sidon was a city of prominence during the
Roman period is implied also in Joseph., Ant., XVIII, 6, 3. If the city could
insist on its rights against Damascus, it must have had resources which would
have enabled it to back up, if necessary, its demands with force. One other
reference of Josephus to Sidon may be mentioned here. In Bell. Jud., II, 18,
5, he states that in the beginning of the Jewish wars with the Romans the
Sidonians were very friendly toward the Jews, and would not permit any of the
Jews who dwelt in their midst to be killed or imprisoned.

•Matt. 11 :21, 22; 15:21; Mark 3: 8; 7 : 24, 31; Luke 6 : 17; 10 : 13, 14;.
Acts 12 : 20.

78 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

tive cities of Phoenicia; so much so, that in some cases the phrase
''Tyre and Sidon" is practically equivalent to " Phoenicia. ' '
Twice Sidon is named alone, once in an allusion to an incident
recorded in the Old Testament, 1 and once as a stopping place of
Paul on his way to Rome. 2 The most important event recorded
in the gospels which is specifically located in Phoenicia is the
healing of the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman, 3 which
took place between Tyre and Sidon, but nearer to the former. 4
Acts 12 : 20, 21 throw an interesting sidelight upon conditions
in Tyre and Sidon at that time: "Now he — Herod Agrippa —
was highly displeased with the men of Tyre and Sidon. Then
they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus,
the king's chamberlain, their friend, they asked for peace,
because their country was nourished by the king's country.
And upon a fixed day Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and
sat upon his throne and made an oration to them." The atti-
tude of Herod on this occasion is inexplicable, unless we assume
that at this time, c. 44 A.D., Tyre and Sidon enjoyed once more
a high degree of independence. "We cannot suppose," says
Rawlinson, 5 "that the Judaean prince would have ventured to
take up this attitude, 6 if the Phoenician cities would have been
fully incorporated into the Roman state, since in that case
quarreling with them would have been quarreling with Rome —
a step on which even Agrippa, with all his pride and all his
rashness, would scarcely have ventured." In all probability
one of the successors of Augustus restored to the two cities the
privileges which he had taken away from them in 20 B.C.

1 Luke 4 : 26, Sarepta, in the land of Sidon. 2 Acts 27 : 3.

8 Mark 7 : 24-30; Matt. 15 : 31-38. The Talmudical references to Sidon are
of no historical value (cp. Neubauer, La Gtographie du Talmud, pp. 294, 295)
and the same is true of the Apocryphal references, e.g., 1 Esdr. 5 : 55 ;
Jud. 2 : 28.

4 Cp. Mark 7 :31: "And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and
came through Sidon unto the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders
of Decapolis."

6 History, p. 543.

J To make war against them, as is implied in their petition for peace.

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY 79

Christianity secured a foothold in Phoenicia very early in the
apostolic age. 1 On Paul's return from his third missionary
journey he found disciples in Tyre and Ptolemais, 2 and in Sidon
he found friends when he stopped there on his way to Rome, 3
which makes it probable that the foundation of a church was
laid in Sidon about the middle of the first century A.D. The
centre of the Phoenician church was Tyre, which became the
seat of a Christian bishop toward the close of the second century.
There also was held, in 335, the Council which condemned
Athanasius. Little is heard of Sidon, but the list of the bishops
present at the Council of Nicaea in 325 shows that it also was an
episcopal seat in the fourth century, for it names Theodorus as
the Bishop of Sidon. 4 At approximately the same time Eusebius
speaks of Sidon as a city of note. 5

From the time of Eusebius to the period of the Crusades we
are dependent almost entirely upon the records of the Christian
pilgrims for information concerning Sidon and its fortunes. The
chief interest of these pilgrims centered in Jerusalem and in the
sacred places scattered throughout Palestine proper; only rarely
do they give full descriptions of places outside of the Holy Land.
As a result authentic information concerning the history of
Sidon during these centuries is very scarce.

The earliest record of a Christian pilgrimage is the Itinerary
of the Bordeaux Pilgrim. The author, who is unknown, made
his journey in 333 A.D.; he names Sidon, 6 but supplies no his-
torical information. The same is true of The Pilgrimage of Ste.
Paula, written by Jerome. 7 About 530 B.C. Theodosion, called
the deacon or the archdeacon, wrote concerning Sidon : ' ' Sarepta
of Sidonia is in Phoenicia, near Mount Carmel. It is twelve miles
from Sarepta to Sidon; and it was called Sarepta of Sidonia

1 Acts 11: 19. 'Acts 21: 4, 7. 3 Acts 27 : 3.

* Cp. Pitra, Spicilegium Solesmense, I, p. 531.

5 Onomasticon, under Ztduv; cp. also Publ. de la soc. de V orient latin, Ser.
geogr., II, pp. 58, 114.
8 P. P. T., Vol. I, p. 15.
7 Publications de la societe de V orient latin, Serie geographique, Vol. I, p. 31.

80 TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUSADES

because at that time Sidon was the metropolis of Sarepta, but
now Sarepta is the metropolis. ' " This would seem to imply that
in his day Sarepta had surpassed Sidon. After the destruction
of Beyrut by an earthquake in 551, 2 the law school which had
flourished there for about three centuries 3 was transferred to
Sidon, 4 but it never flourished in its new location. Antoninus
Martyr, who visited the Holy Land between 560 and 570 A.D.,
describes his visit to Sidon in these words: "From Beyrut we
came to Sidon, which was partly ruined, and which is near the
slope of Mount Lebanon. The people in it are very wicked.
There flows the river Asclepius, 5 and there is the source from
which it rises. From Sidon we came to Sarepta, which is a
small and very Christian city." 8 How Sidon came to be
partly in ruins is not known; it too may have suffered from the
earthquake in 551, or Antoninus may mean nothing more than
that the town he saw did not cover the entire site occupied by the
ancient city, remains of which were still seen in his day. Two
accounts of the pilgrimage of the first English pilgrim, St. Willi-
bald, have been preserved, the Itinerarium S. Willibaldi and
the Hodceporicon. Both state that he visited Sidon, 7 but they
supply no information of historical value.

In the seventh century A.D., during the reign of Caliph Omar,
Syria and Phoenicia were incorporated into the Moslem empire.
The capture of Damascus, in 635, was followed, in 638-640, by the
conquest of the whole of Syria. 8 The conquered territory was
divided into five Junds or military districts. Phoenicia was
made a part of the district of Damascus, 9 and remained such for
centuries. Ibn-al-Faklh, the Arabic geographer, writing c.
903 A.D., calls Sidon a coast town of Damascus, which gave its
name to one of the divisions of the district. 10 Ya'kub, writing in

1 Public, de la soc. de I'or. lat., Ser. g6ogr., Vol. I, p. 73.

2 Gibbon, Decline and Fall, IV, p. 435. 8 Heinecke, Jurisprudentia, proem. 45.
* Rec. d'arch. or., I, p. 224. 8 The Nahr-el-Auwaly.

9 Public, de la soc. de I'or. lat., Se>. geogr., Vol. I, p. 92; cp. p. 362.

7 Ibid., pp. 268, 293. 8 Muller, Der Islam, I, pp. 220, 221.

8 Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, p. 26.

10 Kitab al-bulddn, in De Geoje, Bibl. Geogr. Arab., Vol. V, p. 105.

PILGRIMS AND TRAVELERS 81

891, calls Sidon "a city at the foot of the Lebanon mountains.
The town is entirely peopled by Persians, who were brought
here by the Caliph Mu'awiyah. ' " This energetic conqueror,
who reigned from 661 to 680, must have learned his lesson from
the policy pursued by the Assyrian kings. 2 Al-Makdisi,
who wrote in 985, divides Syria into six districts. Among
the cities of the district of Damascus he names Sidon, which
he calls "a fortified city on the sea." 3 The most extensive
reference to Sidon during this period is found in the diary of
Abu-Mu'in-Nasir-i-Khusrau, a Persian who traveled through
Palestine and Syria in 1047 A.D. The account reads: "From
Beyrut we came to the city of Sidon, likewise on the seashore.
They cultivate here much sugar cane. The city has a well-built
wall of stone and four gates. It has a fine Friday mosque,
very pleasantly situated, the whole interior of which is spread
with matting in colored designs. The bazaars are so splendidly
adorned that when I first saw them I imagined the city to be
decorated for the arrival of the Sultan, or in honor of some good
news. But when I inquired, they said it was customary for
their city to be always thus beautifully decorated. The gardens
and orchards of the town are such that one might say that each
was a plaisance laid out at the fancy of some king. Kiosks are
set therein, and the greater number of trees are of those kinds
that bear fruit." 4 This description, which is the last from the
period preceding the Crusades, shows that at the close of the
first millennium of the Christian era Sidon had regained much of
its oldtime splendor, and was apparently destined to play again
an important role in the commercial history of the Orient.

1 Kit&b al-bulddn, II, p. 175 (Juynboll).

2 See above, p. 53.

3 Ahsan at-tak&sim, p. 160 (De Geoje).
*P.P.T., Vol. IV, p. 11.

82 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

CHAPTER VI

THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

During the period of the Crusades Sidon played a less promi-
nent part than Tyre, Acco, and Joppa, the other port cities along
the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. 1 Nevertheless, as a
city with a desirable harbor, it also soon attracted the attention
of the Crusaders, who, coming to the Holy Land on ships, were
greatly in need of suitable landing places, while the Moslems
were equally eager to retain the coast cities in their own power.
As a result the city was throughout the entire period a bone
of contention between the warring parties; back and forth it
passed between Christians and Moslems, until at the close of
the struggle it remained with the latter, a ruin.

The opening of the first Crusade, 1096-1099, found Sidon a
renowned and prosperous city. 2 On their march toward Jeru-
salem, in the spring of 1099, the Crusaders came for the first
time into its vicinity. 3 The commander of Sidon, a subject
of the Sultan of Egypt, sought to check their advance, but his
troops were repelled. 4 The Christians encamped near the city
for a few days; from their encampments they sent small detach-
ments to ravage the adjacent districts, and in this wise they
secured much booty. While here they encountered many
poisonous snakes, but the natives taught them a remedy against

1 In commerce Sidon played an unimportant role during the period of the
Crusades. Cp. Schaube, Handelsgeschichte der romanischen Volker, passim.

3 William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum, X, 19.

3 William of Tyre, VII, 22; Peter Tudebodus, Historia de Hierosolymitano
itinere, XIII, 13; Abbreviatus, c. 48; Historia Peregrinorum, c. 98; Fulcherius
Carnotensis, Historia Hierosolymitana, I, 25; Gesta Tancredi, c. Ill; Robertus
Monachus, Historia Iherosolimitana, VIII, 19; Baldricus, Historia Jerosolimi-
tana, IV, 8 ; Albertus Aquensis, Historia Hierosolymitana, V, 40.

* William of Tyre, VII, 22; Albertus Aquensis, V, 40.

EARLY ATTACKS UPON SIDON 83

their bites. 1 After the capture of Jerusalem, on July 15, 1099, 2
Godfrey of Bouillon was elected king of the newly established
kingdom. 3 He died on July 18, 1100, 4 whereupon, in October
of the same year, Baldwin, his brother, who had made himself
master of Edessa, 5 was elected as his successor. 6 On his way to
Jerusalem he passed Sidon, without molesting it. 7 At the close
of the Crusade the city was still in the hands of the Moslems.

Uninterrupted intercourse with the homeland could be main-
tained only if the control of the coast cities could be secured,
and much of the time between the first and the second Crusades 8
was spent in attempts to accomplish this result. Early in the
campaign the anger of Baldwin was aroused against Sidon. In
1102 a host of Christians on its way to Europe was overtaken by
a tempest off the coast of Sidon. Many of the ships were
wrecked, and great numbers of the Christians were either
drowned, or captured by the Moslems in Sidon. 9 In the following
year the Sidonians sent help to Acco and Tripolis, which were
besieged by the Christians. 10 To punish the inhabitants for
these expressions of hostility Baldwin led an army against Sidon
in 1107. "In the year 501— i.e., 1107-1108— Baldwin, the
Frank, the lord of Jerusalem, went to besiege Sidon." 11 When
the citizens heard of the extensive preparations for an attack, they
offered to the king a large amount of money, if he would raise
the siege. The negotiations continued for some time, and finally
the king, who was in need of money, withdrew, on the payment

I Albertus Aquensis, V, 40.

; 2 William of Tyre, VIII, 14ff.
3 Id., IX, 2. • Id., IX, 23. 5 Id., IV, 2, 3. 8 Id., X, 1.

7 Id., X, 6; Fulcherius Carnotensis, II, 3; Gesta Francorum, c. 43; Albertus
Aquensis, VII, 34.

8 1099-1147 A.D. » Albertus Aquensis, IX, 18.
10 Id., IX, 19, 32.

II Abu'l Mahasin, Nuj&m az-Zdhira, year 501. It seems most convenient to
give the references to the Arabic historians of the Crusades under the years
in which they record the events alluded to. Where the records are lengthy
more specific references are given. Unless otherwise stated the texts used are
those published in Recueil des historiens des croisades, Orientaux, Vol. I-IV.

84 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

of 15,000 Byzantines. 1 However, the Sidonians soon gave
cause for new complaint. They united with the people of
Ascalon, Tyre, and Beyrut in an attack upon Christian pilgrims
and upon the cities of Joppa and Ramleh. 2 For this new
treachery Baldwin determined to visit severe judgment upon
Sidon, and in the following year he enclosed the city from the
sea side as well as from the land. 3 Everything progressed favor-
ably until at the last moment, when the capture of the city
seemed imminent, the arival of an Egyptian fleet brought relief
to the city. 4 The struggle continued for a while longer, with
heavy losses on both sides; but at last, when Baldwin was in-
formed that Atabek Toghtekin of Damascus was approach-
ing with 15,000 men, 5 he raised the siege. 6 Though the Sidonians
had promised to pay 30,000 pieces of gold for the aid of Damascus,
when Toghtekin came they refused to pay it; whereupon he
besieged the city for ten days, and even threatened to recall
Baldwin; finally, on the payment of 9,000 pieces, he withdrew.

From Sidon Baldwin turned against Tripolis and Beyrut;
the former fell on June 10, 1109, the latter in April, 1110. After
the capture of Beyrut he again threatened Sidon, and once more
he withdrew on the payment of a sum of money and returned to
Jerusalem, whither the pilgrim festivities called him. 7 But
soon he returned, determined to besiege the city in earnest. A
full account of the events leading to the occupation of the city
has been preserved by the Arabic historian Ibn-al-Athir : 8
' ' There had arrived in Syria from beyond the sea a fleet of sixty
vessels, filled with men and provisions. The fleet was under the
command of a king from among the Franks, 9 who desired to
visit the Holy City, and to make himself, as he believed, accept-

1 AlbertusAquensis,X,3-8;cp.l8,58;XI,l. 2 Id.,X,9. *Id.,X,48.

* Abu'l Muzaffar, Mir'dt az-Zamdn, year 501 ; Albertus Aquensis, X, 49.

* Id., X, 50^ 53. 'Id., X, 53.

7 Abu'l Muzaffar, year 503. To the same event may refer Albertus Aquensis,
XI, 11, though the dates of the two accounts seem to vary. It is difficult to
determine exactly the dates of the several attacks upon Sidon.

8 Al-K&mil, year 504. • He means Sigur, king of Norway.

CAPITULATION OF SIDON 85

able to God by making war against the Moslems. This king
united with Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, and it was agreed
between them to overrun the possessions of the Moslems. They
departed therefore from Jerusalem, and arrived before Sidon on
the third day of Rabt the second. 1 The city was pressed from
sea and land. At this time the Egyptian fleet was detained at
Tyre, and could not come to the assistance of the besieged. The
Franks constructed a barricade of wood and made it very solid ;
they made it also proof against fire and against stones. Then
they began their attacks. When the inhabitants saw this their
courage failed, and they feared that they would have to endure
the same fate as the inhabitants of Beyrut. They sent, there-
fore, the Kadi of their city and several of their sheikhs as
delegates to the Franks, and asked permission of their king
to capitulate. The king promised safety for their lives, their
possessions, and the troops of the garrison. Everyone was
to be free to remain in the city or to depart from it.
The king made these agreements under oath. The governor
and several of the principal men of the city started on
the journey on the twentieth day of Jumada the -first, 2 and
went to Damascus. But many persons after capitulating
remained in their places. The siege lasted for forty-seven
days. Baldwin returned to Jerusalem, but a short time
afterward he returned to Sidon and imposed upon the
inhabitants of the city who had remained in their homes
a tax of 20,000 dinars and thus impoverished them." 3 After

1 Oct. 19, 1110. 2 Dec. 4, 1110.

3 See also William of Tyre, XI, 14; Yakut, Mu'jam al-bulddn,ed. Wiisten-
feld, III, p. 441; Abu'l-Muzaffar, Mir'dl az-Zam&n, year 503; Abu'l-Mahasin,
Rec. des hist, des crois., Or., Ill, p. 488; Abu'1-Fida, Mukhtasar ta'rikh al
balar, year 504. Fulcherius Carnotensis, II, 44; Gesta Franc., Variant to c. 72.
Histor. Hieros., Pars II, c. 24; Albertus Aquensis, XI, 31-34; Hist. Nicwna vel
Antioch., c. 73; cp. 77. Benedictus, Hist. Gotefridi, IV, c. 17; Li estoire de
Jerusalem et d'Antioche, III, c. 8. Annates de Terre Sainte, in Archives de
I'orient latin, II, 2, p. 430. There are differences in detail between some of
these writers. William of Tyre, for example, dates the capture of the city in
December, 1111; the Annates de Terre Sainte in May, 1110; Abu'l-Muzaffar

86 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

the capitulation of the city it was given to Eustachius
Grenier, lord of Csesarea. 1

In the autumn of 1111 Baldwin commenced the siege of Tyre, 2
in which he was assisted by Eustachius Grenier, the lord of Sidon
and Csesarea. The siege continued for about four months, when
the Christians returned to Jerusalem, because they heard that an
army of 20,000 men, under the leadership of Toghtekin, was
coming to the relief of the city. While the Crusaders lay before
Tyre, the Christians in Sidon sent to them provisions by sea,
whereupon Toghtekin turned upon the Sidonian boats, killed
some of the men aboard, and destroyed some of the ships. 3

After the death of Baldwin I, on April 7, 1118, his nephew
Baldwin, whom he had appointed lord of Edessa on his own
accession to the throne of Jerusalem, was elected his successor
and was anointed king on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1118. 4
Soon afterward he summoned to Jerusalem the barons of the
kingdom, that they might have an opportunity to swear allegi-
ance to him. Sidon was one of the cities that recognized him as
the rightful king. 5 When a few years later the king fell into the
hands of the Moslems, Eustachius Grenier, lord of Sidon, was
entrusted with the government. 6 One of his first acts was to
send a message to the Venetian fleet, which was on its way to the
Holy Land, urging it to proceed quickly, as the kingdom of Jeru-
salem was in dire straits; and in anticipation of the help which he

in the year 503; other Arabic historians in the year 504. Albertus Aquensis
says that about 5,000 people left the city undisturbed for Ascalon. The other
early writers agree with Ibn-al-Athir.

1 William of Tyre, XII, 17; Fulcherius Carnotensis, III, 16; Hist. Hieros.,
Pars II, c. 37. Hist. Nic. vel Antioch., c. 80. Li estoire de Jer. et d'Ant., Ill,
13. The son of Eustachius was Girard, who became lord of Sidon — Archives
de Vor. latin, I, 673-675 ; his son was Reginald, who became the successor of
his father as lord of Sidon. See below, p. 91.

2 William of Tyre, XI, 17.

3 Abu'l-Mahasin, NujiXm az-Z&hira, in Rec. des histor. des crois., Orientaux,
III, p. 491. Abu'l-Muzaffar, Mir'dt az-Zamdn, year 505; cp. Michaud, Bib-
liotheque des croisades, IV, p. 30.

4 William of Tyre, XII, 3, 4. 6 Albertus Aquensis, XII, 30.
8 William of Tyre, XII, 17.

SIDON IN THE HANDS OF CHRISTIANS 87

expected they would render, he promised to the Venetians certain
possessions and privileges in Sidon and other cities of the king-
dom. 1 A few years later, in 1126, Sidon was threatened by an
Egyptian fleet, which went along the coast as far north as Beyrut.
There it was defeated while getting water, whereupon it returned
hastily to Egypt without molesting the coast cities any further. 2
Three years later the Patriarch Gormund died in Sidon, from an
illness which attacked him during the siege of the castle Belhasam
near Sidon. 3

To this general period belong the troubles in the Eastern Church
which involved the Bishop of Sidon. Tyre had been without an
archbishop for several years preceding April 28, 1128, when
William, the Prior of the Holy Sepulchre, was elevated to the
office. He found that during the interval between the death
of his predecessor Odo and his own election several of the suf-
fragan bishops, among th3m the Bishop of Sidon, had ceased
to recognize the authority of Tyre. The bitterness of the long
struggle between the new archbishop and the rebellious bishops
was intensified by the jealousies of the Patriarchs of Antioch and
Jerusalem. Finally, through the earnest efforts of Pope Inno-
cent II, who addressed letters of conciliation to the Patriarch
of Jerusalem and to the rebellious bishops, among them Bernard
of Sidon, 4 and even sent an apostolic delegate, who landed in
Sidon, 5 peace was restored, and the Bishop of Sidon accepted
once more the authority of the Archbishop of Tyre, to whose
diocese Sidon had belonged for many centuries. 8 In the absence
of all direct information, we may assume, that during the reigns
of Baldwin II and his immediate successors the lord of Sidon
remained loyal to the kings of Jerusalem and aided them in their
undertakings against the Moslems.

1 William of Tyre, XII, 25. 2 Fulcherius Carnotensis, III, 56.

3 William of Tyre, XIII, 25. 4 Id., XIV, 13, 14. 5 Id., XV, 11.

8 See above, p. 79 ; also William of Tyre, XIII, 2. Publ. de la soc. de I'or. latin,
Ser. geogr., I, p. 331; III, 11, 15. In 1205 the Bishop of Halberstadt, who
administered the diocese of Tyre during the absence of the archbishop, conse-
crated a Bishop of Sidon; see Exuviae Const., I, p. 16.

88 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

In 1151 the Egyptian fleet attacked Sidon and other coast
cities, 1 and six years later an earthquake did much damage
to Sidon, Beyrut, Tripolis, Acco, Tyre, and "all the strong-
holds of the Franks." 2 In the following year, on May 10th,
Nur-addin left Damascus to attack Jir-el-Khahab. Before he
arrived there Ased-addin, with the Turcoman horsemen who
formed his army, had devastated the territory of Sidon and
the adjacent districts and had secured rich booty. He had
also caught in an ambush Frank soldiers who had made a sortie
from Sidon, had slain a great many of them, and had made the
rest prisoners, among them the son of the commander of the
citadel of Harim. The Moslems had not lost a single soldier. 3
The forces of Nur-addin came into the neighborhood of Sidon
in 1165, for the purpose of capturing a fortress or cavern located
there. The garrison was bribed into surrender; but the com-
mander was seized, brought to Sidon and hanged for treason. 4
Seven years later, in 1172, Amalric, the king of Jerusalem, was in
Sidon, in council with his nobles to consider a serious outrage com-
mitted by a Knight Templar. On Mount Lebanon dwelt a small
sect called Assassins, under the rule of a sheikh. This sheikh
sent word to the king that he was ready to embrace Christianity,
if the Templars would release his subjects living near their castles

1 Ibn-Muyassar, continuation of Al Musabbihi, Kitdb akhbdr Misr, year 546.

7 Abu'l-Mahasin, Nujilm az-Zdhira, year 552.

3 Abu-Sama, year 553; see Recueil des historiens des croisades, Orientaux,
IV, p. 98. Under year 556 = A.D. 1161, Ibn-al-Athir reports the following:
" The Frank lord of Sidon took refuge with Nur-addin Mahmud, who granted
it to him, and sent him away with an escort. They were attacked on the
road; some were slain, the others fled." The lord of Sidon in 1161 was
Girard, the son of Eustachius Grenier — Archives de I'or. latin, I, p. 674. The
author does not state why he fled to Nur-addin; and, so far as we know,
there was no occasion for it; hence it is not improbable that the Arabic his-
torian is in error concerning the person. He may have in mind the flight of
Sawir, the vizier of Egypt, to Nur-addin, who supplied him with an escort,
which was defeated by the Sultan Dargari. William of Tyre, XIX, 7 ; cp.
Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzuge, III, 2, p. 83.

♦William of Tyre, XIX, 11. The author must be mistaken when he says
that the hostile forces were under the command of Sirku, the commander-in-
chief of Nur-addin, for he was in Egypt at that time.

NUR-ADDIN AND SALAH-ADDIN 89

from the annual payment of 2,000 pieces of gold. The king,
who received the news gladly, offered to compensate the Templars
out of his own treasury. As the messenger of the sheikh, accom-
panied by a royal escort, was returning to his own land, he was
assassinated by one of the Templars. The king, full of wrath,
came to Sidon and demanded reparation; when it was refused
by the commander of the Templars, he ordered the murderer to be
seized by force and thrown into prison at Tyre. 1

Meanwhile a new and powerful foe of the Christians was
appearing on the horizon. Sawir, who had been reinstated as
vizier of Egypt by Sirku, the commander-in-chief of Nur-addin,
soon ceased his allegiance to the latter. Whereupon Sirku
returned to Egypt, overthrew Sawir, and assumed the vizierate
himself. On both expeditions Sirku was accompanied by his
nephew Salah-addin Yusuf-ibn-Ayyub, 2 who on the death of his
uncle in 1169 became his successor. The last of the Fatimite
caliphs died in 1171, when Saladin became the sole ruler of the
kingdom, though he did not proclaim himself sultan until after
the death of Nur-addin in 1174. Between that year and 1183
he succeeded in driving the successors of Nur-addin from Syria
and the greater part of Mesopotamia. Though he came in fre-
quent contact with the Christians during these years, he did
not commence active operations against them until after he had
made himself master of Mohammedan Syria. In 1179 he
came for the first time into the vicinity of Sidon and devastated
the fields around the city. 3 Soon afterwards he defeated Bald-
win near Paneas, when many of the fleeing Christians took
refuge in Sidon. Reginald, the lord of that city, who was
leading his men to the aid of the king, might have saved the
day, had he not turned back as soon as he heard of the mis-
fortune that had befallen the king's army. 4 Three years later
Saladin was again in the neighborhood of Sidon. 5 Finally, in
1187, when Reginald de Chatillon treacherously broke the truce

1 William of Tyre, XX, 29, 30. 2 Anglicized Saladin.

3 William of Tyre, XXI, 28. * Id., XXI, 29. 8 Id., XXII, 20.

•90 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

established two years before, and captured a caravan of Moslems/
Saladin determined to strike the kingdom of Jerusalem a more
effective blow. The Crusaders were defeated in the battle of
Tiberias on July 4, with a loss of 30,000 men, 2 and the king fell
into the hands of the enemy. 3 The sultan advanced immediately
against other cities in Palestine. Nazareth and Acco were taken
without difficulty; 4 the citadel of Tibnin fell after six days.
He then decided upon the capture of Tyre, but seeing its strength,
he marched toward Sidon. 5 The Arabic historians represent
him as proceeding directly to Sidon from Tibnin. ' ' From Tib-
nin, ' ' says Ibn-al-Athir, 6 ' ' Saladin departed for Sidon. On the
way he passed close by Sarepta and took it by capitulation,
without a battle. Then he resumed his march to Sidon. This
city was one of the most frequented places in maritime Syria.
When the lord of Sidon heard that the sultan was coming against
him he departed from the city, leaving it without defenders.
On his arrival Saladin won it immediately by capitulation.
This event took place on the 21st day of Jumdda the first."
To this account Abu-Sama, quoting from Al-Imad, adds 7 that
the banner of Saladin was hoisted, public prayer was offered, the
confession of the Moslem faith was made, and submission to
Allah took the place of the impious revolt. The territory of
Sidon was restored to Reginald, its former lord, 8 who had allied
himself with Saladin. 9 Jerusalem fell on October 2d of the
same year. 10

1 Abu'1-Fida, Mukhtasar ta'rikh al baiar, year 582.

1 William of Tyre, XXIII, 40. For convenience sake the same designation
is retained, though in Book XXIII begins the work of the continuators of
William of Tyre.

8 Id., XXIII, 44. *Id., XXIII, 46, 47. 5 Id., XXIII, 47.

8 Al Kdmil, year 583; cp. also Abu'1-Fida, Mukhtasar ta'rikh al bdhar, year
583; Yakut, Mu'jam al-bulddn, IV, 162; William of Tyre, XXIII, 47.
Hist. Godfridi, c. 47. Baha-addin, the biographer of Saladin, says — Rec. des
histor. des crois., Orientaux, III, p. 98 — that he took the city the day after his
arrival. ' Year 583 ; see Recueil des histor. des croisades, Orientaux, IV, p. 308.

' See Archives de I'or. lat., II, 2, p. 145.

* See variant on p. Ill of Vol. II of Rec. des histor. des crois., Occidentaux;
also on p. 198 ; William of Tyre, XXVI, 17. 10 William of Tyre, XXIII, 61.

CONQUESTS OF SALAH-ADDIN 91

The news of the loss of the Holy City aroused the Christians in
Europe to new activity, which culminated in another Crusade, 1
under the leadership of Frederic Barbarossa of Germany, Philip
Augustus of France, and Richard the Lion-hearted of England.
Frederic was drowned soon after he reached Syria; Richard and
Philip captured Acco after a prolonged siege, but the two kings
quarreled so bitterly that Philip returned home soon after the
fall of the city. During the siege of Acco, which lasted from
August, 1189, to June, 1191, Sidon, then in possession of Regi-
nald, a vassal of Saladin, sent provisions to the Moslems in
Acco. 2 Reginald played an important part in the negotiations
between Conrad de Montferrat, lord of Tyre, and Saladin.
Conrad had brought upon himself the wrath of the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities by marrying Isabel, the divorced wife
of Humphrey of Toron. 3 The hostility of Richard, however, was
due not so much to this fact as to personal envy and jealousy,
for Conrad was one of the bravest and at the same time one of
the most popular of the Christian leaders; so much so that he
was elected king of Jerusalem with great enthusiasm. But
Richard made life so unpleasant for Conrad that the latter de-
cided finally to cast his lot with Saladin. He offered to make
peace with him and turn against the Franks, on condition that
the two cities of Sidon and Beyrut be given to him. 4 Reginald
of Sidon acted as intermediary between the two parties, 5 but
before all arrangements could be completed Conrad was assas-
sinated. 8 Richard was unable to accomplish very much, and
was finally compelled to make peace with Saladin. At the close
of the Crusade Sidon was still in the possession of Saladin. 7

In 1193 Saladin died. 8 For several years there was so much

1 1189-1191.

2 Ibn-al-Athir, Al K&mil, year 586; Recueil des hist, descroisades, Orientaux,
II, p. 32.

3 Baha-addin, Rec. des histor., Orientaux, III, p. 283; cp. Wilken, Gesch.
der Kreuzzuge, IV, p. 307.

* Baha-addin, Recueil des historiens des croisades, Orientaux, III, p. 270.
1 lb., p. 283. •/&., p. 297.

7 William of Tyre, XXVI, 17. 8 Id., XXVII, 1.

92 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

strife among his successors that the Christians remained undis-
turbed. However, in 1197 Joppa was attacked and captured by
Malik-al-Adil. 1 In the same year died King Henry of Jerusalem,
and was succeeded by Amalric, king of Cyprus, who determined
to recover, if possible, all the territory lost to Saladin. Orders
were issued that all the Crusaders should gather at Tyre, whence
they were to proceed to Beyrut, the first point of attack. When
Malik-al-Adil heard of these preparations he decided at once to
destroy the places which he feared he would not be able to
hold against the Christians, and to move the inhabitants with
their possessions to more distant regions. Immediately he
dispatched an army to Beyrut to destroy it, but on the promise
of Usama, the lord of the city, that he could hold it against the
Crusaders, the soldiers desisted from the work of destruction
after the outer walls had been broken down. Meanwhile the
Christians advanced from Tyre. Near Sidon the two armies met
and a bloody battle ensued, which ended in victory for the
Crusaders, who then advanced against Beyrut, 2 which they took
with ease. While they were in Beyrut, Al-Adil sent troops to
Sidon with orders to demolish the entire city. 3

The expectations of Amalric were not realized; therefore in
the following year he was glad to make a truce with Malik-al-
Adil of Damascus and Malik-al-Asis of Egypt. This truce was
maintained until 1203, when new hostilities broke out. Some
Christians on the coast of Cyprus were robbed by the sultan's
sailors, and when Amalric made complaint he could obtain no
satisfaction. He therefore captured, near Acco, a number of
Egyptian ships laden with grain and other goods, and otherwise
harassed the possessions of Al-Adil. But the latter showed so

1 William of Tyre, XXVII, 2-4.

2 Arnold Lubec, V, 5, states that after the battle the Christian army made
a brief stay in Sidon. This can only mean that they encamped in the fields
near the city. Had they entered the city itself, it is not probable that they
would have left it again for the sake of occupying a less prominent town.

3 Ibn-al-Athlr, year 593; Recueil des hist, des crois., Orientaux, II, p. 86.
Gunther Parisiensis, Exuviae Constant., I, p. 63, states that in 1200 Sidon
was still in the hands of the sultan.

FIGHTING NEAR SIDON 93

little interest in the renewal of hostilities that it did not come to
a serious engagement ; and when in the early autumn of the next
year pestilence broke out, which thinned the ranks of the Chris-
tian armies and caused others to return home or go to Constanti-
nople, both sides were ready to renew the truce. 1 Al-Adil was the
more willing to bring hostilities to a close because his presence
was needed in Egypt, 2 which was in danger of an attack from
Constantinople. 3 Therefore he even made certain concessions
to the Christians; he restored to them Nazareth and a few other
towns, and ceded to them one-half of the revenue which he
received from Sidon and other places. As soon as the negotia-
tions were completed he went to Egypt. 4

After the death of Amalric in 1205, 5 the sultan, who thought
the truce dissolved by the death of the king of Jerusalem, showed
inclinations to harass the Christians, but neither side was pre-
pared for hostilities. As a result the truce was renewed, and it
was maintained until 1217, when the arrival of reinforcements
from the west led the Christians to break it and renew the war. 8
Acco was selected as the centre of operations. Two expeditions
made from there proved successful, but on a third, undertaken
about the middle of December, they suffered a terrible defeat.
A part of the Christian army attacked the Moslems near Sidon,
when the inhabitants of the mountainous region behind Sidon
fell upon them and slew many; others perished from the cold,
so that only a few returned to Acco. 7 Discouraged by this dis-
aster many of the Crusaders left the Holy Land, while those who
remained did not feel strong enough to continue hostilities until
reinforcements arrived in the spring of the following year.

1 William of Tyre, XXVIII, 12.

2 He had become Sultan of Egypt after the death of Malik-al-Asis.

3 Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzziige, VI, p. 50.

* Ibn-al-Athir, year 600; Recueil des hist, des crois., Orientaux, II, p. 96.

5 William of Tyre, XXX, 11.

'Id,, XXXI, 10, 11. In 1214 Bishop Raoul of Sidon was elected Patri-
arch of Jerusalem; id., XXXI, 8; Archives de I'or. lat., II, 2, p. 436.

7 William of Tyre, XXXI, 12; Vincentius Bellovacensis, Speculum historiale,
in Publ. de la soc. de Vor. Int., Ser. hist., Ill, p. 99.

94 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

When the new forces were organized an invasion of Egypt was
decided upon. The chief attack was directed against Damietta,
which yielded in 1219.

The war continued until 1221, when Malik-al-Kamil 1 sought
peace. He offered to restore to the Christians Jerusalem,
Ascalon, Tiberias, Sidon, Gebala, Ladikiya, and all the places
Saladin had taken from them in maritime Syria, with the excep-
tion of Karak, if they would vacate Damietta. 2 The proposition
was refused; but soon the tide turned in favor of the sultan, and
when a new truce was agreed upon, which was to last for eight
years, it was decidedly unfavorable to the Christians. 3

When the Christians in the west heard of the losses sustained
by the Crusaders they determined to send reinforcements; but
not until 1227 did any considerable number of pilgrims reach the
Holy Land. Of the first company a group of German and English
pilgrims went to Sidon, which was then partly in ruins. Since
the rebuilding of the whole city seemed too difficult a task, they
were content with erecting a citadel upon an island before the
harbor of Sidon, which they completed in 1228. 4 Then they
turned to Csesarea and restored the citadel there. On the com-
pletion of these acts of piety most of them felt that they had per-
formed their whole duty and went home. In the following year
the Emperor of Germany, Frederic II, led a new army of Cru-
saders into the Holy Land. Concerning this expedition Ibn-al-
Athir writes: 5 "In that year many Franks came to the coast of
Syria. They had been preceded by others, who, however, had
been unable to accomplish anything, partly because of the
absence of their leader, the prince of the Germans, and partly
because Al-Muaddham, an intelligent, brave, and energetic

1 He succeeded Al-Adil in 1218.

2 Ibn-al-Athir, Recueil des hist, des crois., Orientaux, II, p. 122; cp. William
of Tyre, XXXII, 9; Jacques de Vitry, ep., TV.

3 William of Tyre, XXXII, 16; cp. Wilken, Gesch. der Kreuzziige, VI, p. 346ff.
* William of Tyre, XXXII, 25; XXXIII, 4; Phil, de Navarre, § 125; see also

above, p. 4. A variant — Rec. des histor. des crois., Occid., II, p. 371 — says
that the Germans built another castle which they called "Frank Castle."
*AlKdmil year 625.

FREDERIC II RETAKES SIDON 95

prince, was still alive. But when he died and was succeeded by
his son, the Franks took courage and made themselves masters
of Acco, Tyre, Beyrut, and the city of Sidon, only part of which
had previously been in their power." From this narrative it
would seem that Sidon and the other cities named were taken by
force of arms. This is not probable, for Frederic appears to have
accomplished his ends through diplomacy. The continuator of
William of Tyre is probably nearer the truth when he states that
the part of the city of Sidon which was still in the hands of the
Moslems was returned to Frederic as one of the conditions of the
truce made on February 24, 1229, which was to continue for ten
years five months and some days. 1 At that time the entire
city of Sidon passed once more into the hands of the Christians.

Notwithstanding the truce, hostilities between Christians and
Moslems continued without interruption. That neither gained
any decided advantages was due to the fact that both sides were
torn by bloody quarrels. Among the Christians the leaders of
the two factions were John of Ibelin, lord of Beyrut, and Richard,
representative of Frederic II, both of whom claimed the throne
of Jerusalem. In these struggles Balian, the lord of Sidon,
sided with Ibelin. 2 Among the Moslems the factional warfare
was even more bitter. Malik-al-Asraf of Damascus died in 1237,
and appointed as his successor Malik-as-Salih-Isma'il, prince
of Baalbek and Basra, who, however, was quickly driven out by
the Sultan of Egypt, Kamil. When the latter died in 1238, his
son Malik-al-Adil was recognized by the nobles of the realm as
Sultan of Egypt and Damascus. This was not to the liking of
his brother, Malik-as-Salih-Ayyub, who put him out of the way
and in 1240 made himself ruler of Egypt and Damascus. In
the same year Malik-as-Salih-Isma/il returned to Damascus, and
quickly made himself master of the city and of the throne. Fear-
ing that he would not be strong enough to defend the city against

1 WUliam of Tyre, XXXIII, 8; cp. Rohricht, Die Kreuzfahrt Friedrich U r
p. 26; Kugler, Gesch. der Kreuzzilge, p. 339.

2 William of Tyre, XXXIII, 24, 28, 29, 34; Phil, de Navarre, §§ 182, 183.

96 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

Ayyub, he entered into an alliance with the Christians, prom-
ising them, in return for their aid, the restoration of several
places which at that time were in his power. 1 When Ayyub
heard of this alliance he summoned to his aid the Khares-
mians, wild hordes of Turks roaming around in the Euphrates
and Tigris regions. They responded eagerly, entered Syria,
captured Jerusalem in 1244, and assisted Ayyub in other ways
to recover control of Syria and Palestine.

The loss of Jerusalem and the threatening advance of the Mon-
gols called forth another Crusade, 2 under the leadership of Louis
IX of France. He directed his first attack against Egypt.
Early successes were followed by disasters, until finally Louis
was captured. After he had secured his release by the payment
of an enormous ransom, 3 he went in 1250 to Acco, but being
without resources he could accomplish little. While waiting
for reinforcements he determined to fortify Acco, Sidon, and
Csesarea. At first he encountered no obstacles, because fresh
hostilities had broken out between Damascus and Egypt. But
when in 1253 the difficulties between the Sultan of Damascus and
the Emirs of Egypt were adjusted, the Moslems at once turned
their attention to the Christians. The first engagement took
place near Joppa, then Acco was besieged, and finally Sidon was
attacked. This city had been destroyed by the troops of Ayyub
during the campaign of Louis in Egypt, 4 but after his arrival in
Palestine he had ordered the rebuilding of the city. The order
had been partly carried out, under the direction of Simon de
Montsceliart, when the new attack occurred. Simon, realizing
the impossibility of holding the city against a numerous army,
retired to the citadel with his troops and as many of the inhabit-

1 William of Tyre, XXXIII, 48, names among the districts to be restored
la terre de Sajette, which denotes ordinarily the land of Sidon; but it cannot
be meant here, because Sidon had been returned to the Christians eleven
years before. Sajette may be an error for Safed; cp. also Phil, de Nav. § 215.

2 1248-1254.

■ See Kugler, Gesch. der Kreuzzilge, pp. 364-372.

4 Chron. of the Crusades, p. 545; cp. Michaud, Bibliotheque des croisades, IV,
p. 453.

SIDON DESTROYED BY MONGOLS 97

ants as could find room there. The enemy entered the city
without opposition, slaughtered 2,000 of the inhabitants,
and after pillaging the town departed for Damascus. 1 On
hearing the news of this calamity the king was much depressed,
but at the suggestion of his barons he issued a new order for
the immediate rebuilding and fortification of the city. The
task was completed in 1254, 2 and soon after Louis returned to
his homeland.

In the following year a truce was agreed upon, which was to
continue for ten years. But soon a new danger threatened the
cities of Syria, both Christian and Moslem. For some time the
Mongols had been extending their territory in Mesopotamia and
Asia Minor. In 1260 they turned southward and invaded Syria.
Before the close of the year Sidon brought upon itself the wrath
of their leader, Kethboga. In the vicinity of Beaufort, which
belonged to the lord of Sidon, there were a few Moslem villages
which were subject to the Mongols. The Franks living in
Sidon and Beaufort fell treacherously upon these villages, slew
some of the inhabitants and carried away others with their
flocks. A nephew of Kethboga, who demanded the return of
the prisoners, they slew, and the demands of the leader himself
they treated with scorn. The latter, who until then had been
favorably inclined toward the Christians, became furious and
advanced immediately against Sidon, which he reduced to a
heap of ruins. The inhabitants took refuge in the citadel upon
the island, 3 which he was unable to take. Julian, the lord of
Sidon 4 and Beaufort, who desired to withdraw from the world and
enter the order of Trinitarians, 5 sold the ruins to the Templars. 6

1 Joinville, Memoires, p. 357. William of Tyre, XXXIV, 2, gives the number
of the slain as 800 or more, and states that 400 were taken prisoners.

1 Joinville; p. 358 ; W. T., XXXIV, 2. 3 See above, p. 94.

* Archives de Vor. kit., II, 2, p. 445. 5 William of Tyre, XXXIV, 20.

6 Id., XXXIV, 3 ; Chron. du tempi, de Tyr, in Publ. de la soc. Vor. lat. , Ser.
histor., V, § 303; cp. 308; Archives de Vor. lat., II, 2, p. 449. Julian was the
son of Giles, lord of Sidon, who died in 1247 — Chron., in Publ., hist., V, § 260 —
the son of Balian, lord of Sidon — Phil, de Navarre, ib., § 116; Chron. de Terre
Sainte, ib., § 90; Archives, II, 2, pp. 151, 153, 166, 167, 437, 438.

98 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

The Mongols could not maintain themselves in Syria, and in a
little while the supremacy passed again into the hands of the
Moslems. In the year in which Sidon was destroyed by the
Mongols Malik-at-thahir-Baibars became Sultan of Egypt. In
the beginning he treated the Christians with friendly considera-
tion, but in 1261 hostilities broke out. After a year's fighting
a truce was declared, which three years later was broken by
the Christians. When they saw that the war was going against
them * they asked for peace, declaring their willingness to accept
as one of the conditions the division of Sidon. 2 At first the sul-
tan hesitated, because he had heard that meanwhile the Franks
had made an attack upon Mahghara; 3 but in the following year
a ten-year truce was proclaimed, one of the conditions being the
division of Sidon. The Franks were to retain the districts in
the plain, Baibars was to occupy the hills. 4

During the closing years of the struggle between Christians and
Moslems Sidon remained in the background. 5 However, the
city became involved in the difficulties which arose between
Boemund, lord of Tripolis, and the order of the Templars, and in
1279 the former sent a fleet to Sidon which did much damage and
carried away rich booty. 6

The end of the kingdom of Jerusalem was approaching rapidly.
The west began to see the hopelessness of the struggle and ceased
to send reinforcements, while the limited resources in Palestine
were expended by the Christian leaders in fighting one another.
When in 1290 the Christians broke the truce which had been
agreed upon only a short time before, and afterwards refused to
surrender the guilty parties, the sultan declared war. 7 The

1 From Archives de Vor. lat., II, 1, 382, it would seem that an army threat-
ened Sidon.

2 Badr-addin al 'Aini, 'Ikd al-jumdn, year 665.

3 lb.; cp. Archives de V orient latin, II, 1, p. 388.

4 Badr-addin, year 666; Recueil des hist, des crois., Orientaux, II, p. 236;
Arch, de Vor. lat., II, 1, p. 394.

5 In 1274 Adam of Romery became Bishop of Sidon, W. T., XXXIV, 19.

* Chron. du tempi, de Tyr, in Publ. de la soc. de V orient latin, Se>. histor., Vol.
V, § 400. 7 Wilken, Gesch. der Kreuzziige, VII, p. 719ff.

WITHDRAWAL OF CHRISTIANS 99

first blow was directed against Acco, then the principal city of
the Christians on the coast, and after a two months' siege the
Saracens became masters of the city in 1291. The Templars
who escaped from Acco fled to Sidon, intending to make a stand
there; but when the Moslems made preparations to besiege the
city from land and sea they withdrew to Cyprus, whereupon
city and citadel were razed to the ground. "After the fall of
Acco," says Abu'1-Fida, "God filled the hearts of the Franks
who were still in Syria with terror. They evacuated Sidon and
Beyrut, which two cities were occupied by As-Sajai during the
last week of Rajab. ' H

Thus, after many vicissitudes, Sidon, a renowned and popu-
lous city at the beginning of the Crusades, returned at the close
to the Moslems, little more than a heap of ruins.

Appendix to Chapter VI

The writings of the pilgrims who visited Sidon during the period
of the Crusades throw little light upon its history. Saewulf , who
undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1102-1103, mentions
Sidon as still in the hands of "Duke Raymund," i.e., Raymond,
Count of Toulouse. 2 The Russian Abbot Daniel, 1106 or 1107,
refers only incidentally to the city. 3 The guide to Palestine
which goes under the name of Fretellus, written c. 1130,
mentions several traditions connected with Sidon: "Fourteen
miles from Tyre is Sidon. Sidon was founded by Sidon, the
firstborn of Canaan, the son of Ham, from whom the Sidonians
are descended. In Tyre and Sidon reigned Phoenix, who was
the brother of Cadmus of Thebes in Egypt, who came to Syria. 4

1 Mukhtasar ta'rikh al basar, year 690; Chron. du tempi, de Tyr, §§ 509-518.
Annales de Terre Sainte, in Archives de I'or. lat., II, 2, p. 460, places the attack
in the year 1290.

2 P. P. T., Vol. IV, p. 127.

3 Publ. de la soc. de I'or. lat., Ser. geogr., IV, p. 54.

4 See note 10 on p. 10; also p. 20; cp. Stephenus Byzantius, s.v. tyoivitui,
Eustathius, ad Dionys., I. 905.

100 THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES

From his name he called those people Phoenicians, and the whole

province Phoenicia, of which Tyre had the first rank

From the confines of Tyre and Sidon came the Canaanite woman
who said to Jesus, ' Son of David, have mercy upon me. ' . . . .
Six miles from Sidon, above the sea, toward Tyre, is Sarepta of
the Sidonians. In the mountains of Sidon and Sarepta is
Gethacofer, 1 the town from which came Jonah. Of Sidon was
Dido, who built Carthage in Africa. 2 Sidon was acquired by the
Phoenicians and held by them; they confirmed its name Sidon
on account of the abundance of fish, because in their language
sidon means fish." 3 John of Wurzburg, in the latter half of the
twelfth century, says: ''Six miles from Sarepta is Sidon, a
famous city, from which came Dido, who founded Carthage in
Africa.' " Joannes Phocas, c. 1185, has left this description:
1 * Nextoomes Sidon with the famous twin harbor, whose situation
has been admirably described by the historian of Leucippe f for if
you visit the place, with its harbor and outer harbor, you will
find the reality agreeing with the description given in his writings.
Outside the city, at a distance of about three bowshots, stands
a church, surrounded by a colonnade of great length, upon the
upper part of the apse of which is placed a four-sided stone,
whereon, according to the report of the vulgar, Christ, the
Saviour of the world, used to stand and teach the multitude. ' ,ft
Theodoric, c. 1172, speaks of Sidon as a "noble city, from which
came Dido, who founded Carthage in Africa." 7 Anonymous
pilgrim V, 2, 8 toward the close of the twelfth century, says that
in Sidon resided a bishop, who was a suffragan bishop of the
Archbishop of Tyre. 9 Anonymous pilgrim VI, called Pseudo-

1 According to 2 K. 14: 25 the home of Jonah was in Gathhepher. The
same place is mentioned in Josh. 19: 13. It is identified with the present
village of el-Meshhed.

2 Cp. Virgil, Mn., I, 446, 613. 3 P. P. T., V, 50, 51.

* lb., V, p. 63. B Achilles Tatius; see above, p. 4.

• Rec. des histor. des crois., Grecs, I, p. 531. 7 P. P. T., V, p. 72.

8 The term Anonymous is applied to several pilgrims whose names have not
been preserved.

9 lb., VI, p. 31.

CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS 101

Beda, also in the twelfth century, writes : ' ' Six miles from Sarepta
is Sidon, whence came Dido, who built Carthage in Africa.
Sidon is, being interpreted, 'seeking after sorrow'; Tyre,
'trading.' It was from these parts of Tyre and Sidon that
the Canaanitish woman came to Jesus. ' ' *

1 lb., VI, p. 49

102 TO THE PRESENT DAY

CHAPTER VII

TO THE PKESENT DAY

After the expulsion of the Christians and the reestablish-
ment of the Moslem dominion, Syria, including Phoenicia,
belonged nominally to the ruler of Egypt; in reality it was par-
celed out among a number of minor sultans, the descendants of
Saladin and his brothers. 1 Al-Dimaski, writing about 1300 A.D.,
states that since the rise of the Turk power, meaning the dynasty
of Saladin, Syria had been divided into nine kingdoms. Of these
he gives first rank to Damascus, and Sidon he names as one of
its cities. 2

Three years before the fall of the kingdom of Jerusalem,
Othman or Osman I became the chief of the Turks in Phrygia.
His surname al-ghdzi, i.e., the conqueror, indicates that he was a
warrior. During his reign 3 he subjected the whole of western
Asia Minor to his sway. 4 From the conquest of Asia Minor and
the Danubian provinces of the Byzantine empire the Turks
advanced, in the middle of the fifteenth century, to Constanti-
nople, which was taken in 1453. During the reign of Bajazid
II 5 their advance was checked temporarily, but under his suc-
cessor, Selim I, 6 Syria was occupied, 7 Sidon without a battle; 8
and since then Syria, including Phoenicia, has been under the
rule of the Turks.

For many years subsequent to 1291 Sidon played an unim-
portant role. Centuries passed before she recovered, even in a
measure, from the severe blows which she sustained during the

1 Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, p. 40.

2 Nukhbat ad-dahr, ed. Mehren, p. 201 ; cp. 212, 213. Yakut, Mu'jam al-
bulddn, ed. Wustenfeld, III, 439.

3 1288-1325. * V. Hammer, Gesch. des Osmanischen Reiches, p. 41ff.

5 1481-1512. • Died September 22, 1520.

7 In 1516. 8 Mignot, History of the Turkish or Ottoman Empire, I, 270.

PERIOD OF DECLINE 103

period of the Crusades; in fact she has never regained the splendor
which was hers before that time. The last glowing description
of the city is one written by Idrisi, c. 1154. ' ' Sidon, ' ' says he,
" is a large city, where the markets are thronged and provisions
are cheap. It is surrounded by gardens and trees, water is
plenty, and it has broad outlying districts. The city owns
four districts, which lie contiguous to the Lebanon mountains.
The first is the district of Jazin, through which runs the wddy-al-
Hirr, which is noted for its fertility and the abundance of its
fruits. The second is the district as-Surbah, which is a splendid
district. The third is the district of Kafar Kila. The fourth is
the district of ar-Rami, which is the name of a river that flows
through the hills. These four districts contain more than six
hundred domains." 1 Very different are the reports written
subsequently to the thirteenth century. Abu'1-Fida, c. 1321,
says, "It is a small town, but fortified." 2 A guide book to
Palestine, compiled c. 1350, does indeed call Sidon a ' ' famous
city, ' ,3 but the epithet refers to the past history rather than to
the present. From the same period comes the testimony of
Ludolf of Sudheim, who calls Sidon ' ' a seaside city, fenced about
with towers and high walls, but deserted." 4 In the fifteenth
century it was still without its former splendor. John Poloner,
who visited the Holy Land in 1421-1422, has this to say : ' ' Sidon
is a city of Phoenicia; its ruins at this day bear witness to its

greatness Out of its ruins has been built another town,

small indeed but fortified, had it but men to defend it. ; ,5 Felix
Fabri, a Dominican monk who journeyed to Palestine in 1480-
1483, did not see Sidon; hence his reference to Tyre and Sidon as
' ' great cities" 6 cannot be taken seriously.

1 Nuzhat al Mustdk, ed. Gildemeister, p. 15.

2 Takuim-al-bulddn, ed. Reinaud et de Slane, p. 249. See also Koehler,
Tabula Syria, p. 93.

3 P. P. T., Vol. VI, p. 39. 4 Archives de V orient latin, II, 2, p. 339.
5 P. P. T., Vol. VI, p. 29. A few years before this visit, c. 1404, European

pirates had raided the city. Lane-Poole, A History of Egypt in the Middle
Ages, p. 335. 6 P. P. T., VII, 1, p. 211.

104 TO THE PRESENT DAY

From all these statements we may gather that after its destruc-
tion in 1291 Sidon was rebuilt and refortified, that a small popu-
lation settled in the new town, and that some commerce was
carried on, 1 but that Sidon could no longer be looked upon as a
chief city of Phoenicia. When Sandys visited the city in 1610-
1611 it still appeared in its poverty. "But this once ample
city," says he, "still suffering with the often changes of those
countries, is at this day contracted within narrow limits, and

only shows the foundations of her greatness The town

now being is not worth our description; the walls are neither
fair nor of force; the haven decayed, when at best but serving
for galleys. At the end of the pier stands a paltry blockhouse,
furnished with suitable artillery. The mosque, the Bannia (per-
haps the public bath), and Khan for merchants are the only
buildings of note. ' ,2

Soon after Sandys' visit the city revived for a few decades.
When the Druses settled in the Lebanon region, Sidon came
under the sway of the Emir of the Lebanon. 3 In 1585 the
Emir Korkmas was poisoned, 4 and was succeeded by his son
Fakhr-addin, a boy of fourteen years. 5 The sultan took advan-
tage of his youth and reduced his territory by separating from
it Sidon and a few other towns. As soon as Fakhr-addin
began to rule independently, he determined not only to
recover the lost cities, but to wrest the whole of Syria from the
sultan and establish an independent kingdom. In a short time
he regained Sidon, and in addition he conquered many other
cities of Syria. With this conquest opened the last period of
Sidon's glory. Fakhr-addin decided to make it his capital and a

1 Cp. Prise d' Alexandrie, by Guillaume de Machaut, I. 5708, in Publ. de la
soc. de I'or. lat., S6r. histor., I, p. 173.

2 Relation of a journey begun in 1610, 2d ed., p. 210.

3 Wustenfeld, Fachr-ed-Din und seine Zeitgenossen, in Abhandlungen der
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Gottingen, 1885, Vol. XXXIII, p. 78. Dur-
ing the expedition of Ibrahim Pasha to Syria, for the purpose of bringing the
Druses to obedience, a Turkish fleet landed in Sidon; id., p. 84.

* Z. D. M. G., VIII, 480.

5 Wustenfeld, Fachr-ed-Din, p. 87.

REVIVAL UNDER FAKHR-ADDIN 105

worthy centre of his new kingdom. He rebuilt the citadel and
surrounded the city with a new wall. Italian architects erected
for him a magnificent palace, surrounded by various other halls
and palaces. These were located in the midst of gardens, ter-
races, and orchards, beautiful with flowers, fountains, boule-
vards, etc. 1 The plain surrounding the city was planted with
mulberry trees. For the advancement of commerce he erected
the "great Khan," so called because it was of immense size,
containing many magazines and storerooms; here were located
also the first European factory, the residences and warehouses
of the French merchants, a drug store, residences for physicians,
places of worship, etc. These accommodations attracted the
commerce of the west, and since religious liberty was granted
to all the city soon began to flourish in its oldtime splendor. 2

The commerce of Sidon was at that time and for many years
after almost exclusively in the hands of Frenchmen, 3 and their
nation was for a long time the only European power to have a
consular representative there. In a little while their trade
grew to such proportions that it brought annually 200,000 crowns
into the treasury of the government, and it was so essential to
the welfare of the inhabitants that, says d'Arvieux, had the
French removed to another place, the city would have been
immediately abandoned and left deserted. From Sidon as the
centre branches were established in the other coast cities, Acco,
Beyrut, Tripolis, Tyre; and from it a direct route led to Damascus,
of which city it was considered the port. 4 The city seemed
destined to resume the leadership which it had occupied during
the Persian period, when Fakhr-addin by a single blow de-
stroyed all prospects of permanent commercial supremacy. In

1 D'Arvieux, Memoir -es, I, p. 303ff.

2 Wustenfeld, Fachr-ed-Din, p. 87 ; S. Pierre, Histoire des Druses, Paris,
1763, p. 25.

3 D'Arvieux, Memoires, I, pp. 311, 398, etc.

* For a full description of the new splendor of Sidon, the building enter-
prises of Fakhr-addin, its commerce, etc., see d'Arvieux, Memoires, I, 294ff.,
331ff., 463ff. ; III, 341ff.

106 TO THE PRESENT DAY

order to prevent the Turkish ships from landing at Sidon he
ordered the harbor to be filled up by sinking in it old boats,
stones, and rubbish. 1 As a result the sun of Sidon set almost as
soon as that of Fakhr-addin in 1634. Little remained of its
splendor when Henry Maundrell visited the place in 1697.
" Sidon/' says he, "is stocked well enough with inhabitants,
but is very much shrunk from its ancient extent, and more from
its splendor, as appears from a great many beautiful pillars that
lie scattered up and down the gardens without the present walls.
Whatever antiquities may at any time have been hereabout,
they are now perfectly obscured and buried by the Turkish
buildings. Upon the south side of the city, upon a hill, stands
an old castle, said to be the work of Louis IX of France, sur-
named the Saint, and not far from the castle is an old unfinished
palace of Fakhr-addin, serving, however, the pasha for his
seraglio; neither of them worth mentioning, had the city afforded
us anything else more remarkable." 2 Sidon became the seat of
the pasha in 1658, and continued to be such for over a century.
The pasha still resided there when Niebuhr visited the city in
1766. The city itself was in as bad condition as in the days of
Maundrell. It did not have even a regular wall. The outer
walls of the houses served as fortifications of the city, and where
they did not join closely an effort had been made to provide a
connecting wall. The citadel, which had a small garrison,
whose duty it was to police the city and protect the harbor, was
in miserable condition, and had just enough cannons to respond
to salutes that might be fired by passing ships. The inner harbor
could be entered by small vessels only. 3 Volney, who visited
the city during his travels in 1784, calls Sidon the degenerate
offspring of ancient Sidon, and describes it as ill built, dirty,
and full of modern ruins. 4
In return for services rendered during the Egyptian invasion

1 Volney, Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, II, 192.

2 Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter 1697; Diary of March 19.

3 Reisebeschreibung, III, pp. 78, 79.

4 Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, II, p. 191.

LOSS OF COMMERCE 107

of Syria, and for the purpose of strengthening the position of
Turkey against the Druses and Metawelis who were threatening
the coast cities, the sultan appointed in 1773 as Pasha of Sidon
Ahmad-al-Jazzar, the most cruel and bloodthirsty adventurer
of the Turkish army. After he had pacified the rebels he
entered upon a reign of terror. He caused the death of the
Emir of the Druses, who had been his benefactor, in order that
he might secure his treasures and other possessions; he put to
death several of the Turkish pashas who were in the way of his
ambitions, and the people he oppressed with extreme cruelty.
As a result he had to stand in constant fear of revolts; to be pre-
pared for these he transferred his residence from Sidon, which
was without adequate defenses, to the strongly fortified Acco, 1
where he exercised his rule of terror for about a quarter of a
century. When the French merchants in Sidon offered opposi-
tion to his despotism and greed and presented accusations
against him before the sultan, he drove them in 1791 from the
city and his other possessions. 2 This act of folly proved a serious
blow to the city, for it resulted in the transfer of the French
commerce to Beyrut and Tripolis, 3 while Sidon was given a set-
back from which it has never recovered. In the beginning of
the nineteenth century the commerce of Sidon had been reduced
to almost nothing. De Marcellus wrote in 1816/ that for sev-
eral years the commerce of the city had been practically dead,
and that the last French consul, during a stay of seven years, had
seen only one French vessel enter the harbor, and it had been
driven there by a storm. During the nineteenth century the
city has revived somewhat, but it will never again become the
leader of commerce on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

1 Ibid., pp. 164, 165.

2 Olivier, Voyage dans V empire d'Othoman, I'Egypte, et la Perse, II, p. 231.
Verney et Dambmann, Les puissances 6trangeres dans le Levant, p. 364;
P. E. F., 1906, p. 138, quoted from Browne, Travels in Africa, Egypt and
Syria, from the year 1792 to 1798.

3 Michaud et Poujoulat, Correspondance d'Orient, V, p. 516ff.
* Souvenirs de VOrient, p. 228.

108 TO THE PRESENT DAY

The condition of its harbor and the nearness of Beyrut, which
draws everything to itself, prevents its rapid growth. In 1837
Sidon suffered severely from an earthquake, in which about 100
buildings were damaged. 1 Three years later the harbor for-
tress was attacked and the city captured by the combined fleet
of the European powers who sought to drive Mehemet Ali from
Syria. 2 Travelers who visited the city during the first half
of the century estimated the population variously from 5,000
to 10,000. In 1858 it was said to be about 9,000. Of these
6,800 were Moslems, 850 Greek Catholics, 750 Maronites, 150
United Greeks, and 300 Jews. 3 Nearly all the travelers call
attention to the wretched condition of the place and its peo-
ple; only rarely one allows his imagination to soar and to
paint a more hopeful picture. "The whole appearance of
Sidon," says al-Mukattem (H. Crosby), "formed an epoch in
our journey. We suddenly lost sight of the lazy, dilapidated
Orient in the life and bustle of a large and busy town as is
Sidon, and saw in its inhabitants a tone of rank and intelli-
gence that we had not witnessed since leaving Cairo." 4 Dur-
ing the persecutions of the Christians by the Moslems and of
the Maronites by the Druses in I860, 5 the Christians in Sidon
were subjected to severe suffering.

In 1902, M. Angel, who was commissioned by the Alliance
Israelite to study the situation in Sidon with a view of estab-
lishing a Jewish school there, presented a picture of the city's
desolation in these words : " I have visited the most ancient
quarters of Jerusalem and Damascus, but there I have never
seen a semblance of the aspect of desolation and decay which
Sidon presents, a little village, almost igrored by tourists, to
which modern civilization has not yet penetrated." 8 There

1 Ritter, Erdkunde, XVII, 1, p. 406.

2 Menzies, Turkey Old and New, p. 387. A. A. Paton, A History of the
Egyptian Revolution, II, pp. 189, 190.

8 Thomson, The Land and the Book, two vol. edition, I, p. 154.

* The Lands of the Moslem, p. 332.

6 Von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf, pp. 162, 163.

* Bulletin de I'alliance Israelite, 1902, p. 92.

THE MODERN TOWN 109

must be some exaggeration in this statement, for since
the middle of the nineteenth century the city has shared
to some extent in the advances and advantages of modern
civilization, and at the present time it contains nearly all the
institutions which are thought essential in a modern town.
Its population is estimated at about 11,000. It is the seat of
a Turkish tribunal, has a custom house, a post office, and a
telegraph office for domestic service, i.e., for correspondence in
Arabic and Turkish. It is the residence of a Kaimakdm, of
a Maronite and two Greek bishops. 1 It possesses Moslem sec-
ondary and primary schools for boys and girls; the American
Mission — Presbyterian — maintains a boys and a girls' school,
also a school of agriculture; the Franciscans have a monastery,
church, and boys' school; the Sisters of Joseph a school and an
orphanage; the Jesuits have a mission station, with a church
and a school. The Maronites, the United Greeks, and Ortho-
dox Greeks also maintain schools and churches. 2 The Alliance
Israelite established a mixed school in 1902. 3

1 Badeker says that both belong to the Orthodox Greek Church. This is an
error; one belongs to the United Greek Church; so Cuinet.

2 Cuinet, Syrie, Liban, et Palestine, p. 71 ; Badeker-Benzinger, Palestine and
Syria, 1898, p. 314. Verney et Dambmann, Les puissances ttrangeres dans
le Levant, pp. 28, 29, 477.

3 Bulletin de V alliance Israelite, 1902, p. 91ff .

III. COLONIES, COMMERCE AND
INDUSTRIES

Six hundred and sixty pages does Movers devote to a dis-
cussion of the Phoenician colonies; 1 and that notwithstanding
his admission 2 that in cases without number we know very
little, while "concerning others, and among them the most
important, nothing whatever may be said." On the other
hand, twelve pages are sufficient for Winckler to prove that the
older views concerning the founding of Phoenician colonies are
no longer tenable. 3 He holds, and without doubt correctly,
that the so-called Phoenician colonies on the islands and shores
of the Mediterranean are due, not to the commercial ventures
of the cities in Phoenicia proper, but to the continuation across
the Mediterranean Sea of the same Semitic migration which
resulted in the settlement of the Phoenicians along the eastern
coast of the Mediterranean.

The subject of this chapter, however, is not Phoenician colonies
but Sidonian colonies. In entering upon the discussion of this
subject it may be well to repeat what has been stated in another
connection, that Sidon was not a city of prominence until after
the opening of the first millennium B.C., a fact which tends to
cast suspicion upon any statement which implies that centuries
earlier Sidon was busy planting colonies on distant shores. The
mythological stories which connect Europa and Cadmus with
Sidon may be left entirely out of consideration, for they reflect
late notions which in no sense can be called historical. 4 The

1 Die Phonizier, II, 2. ' Ibid., p. 1.

3 Altorientalische Forschungen, I, pp. 421-433; cp. Zeitschrift fur Socialwis-
senschaft, VI, pp. 357ff., 434ff. ; see also v. Landau, Der AlteOrient, II, 4, p. 8.

4 The origin of these notions may be explained, in part, by the fact that the
people among whom they originated were more familiar with the citizens of

110

SIDONIAN COLONIES 111

earliest historical allusion to a Sidonian colony is generally seen
in Judg. 18 : 7, 28 ; but there Sidonian is certainly equivalent to
Phoenician, and the most that may be inferred from the passage
is that Laish was a Phoenician settlement; it does not follow that
the city Sidon had even the remotest connection with it. An-
other proof of the early colonizing activities of Sidon is found in
the claims expressed on Sidonian coins of the second century
B.C. 1 that Sidon is the mother of Kambe, = Carthage, Hippo,
Citium, Tyre. In the case of Tyre the claim has been shown to
be unwarranted, 2 and the same may be said in the case of the
other cities; for how could a city such as Sidon was during the
Tel-el- Amarna period plant, at approximately the same time,
or even earlier, extensive settlements on foreign and hostile
shores? If any colonizing was done during the period reflected
in the Tel-el- Amarna tablets or earlier, it cannot have proceeded
from the Phoenician cities named in that correspondence. On
this ground alone the assertion is warranted that the claims of
Sidon to be the founder of the cities named is without any basis
in history; it reflects rather the later rivalry between Tyre and
Sidon, which found expression in extravagant claims of antiquity
and superiority.

There are only two colonies the founding of which is credited
by disinterested persons to Sidon. Leptis, in North Africa, is
said to have been settled by Sidonians who had been driven
from their homes by internal dissensions; 3 and the island Oliaros,
near Paros, is called by Heraclides Ponticus Zidwviwv dnotxta. 4
Pliny calls the former a Tyrian settlement, 5 while modern his-

Sidon than with those of other Phoenician cities, in part by the wider use of the
term Sidonian = Phoenician; see above, p. 18. It should be noted also that
other traditions connect these mythological figures with Tyre; see above, p. 20.

1 Gesenius, Monumenta, p. 264ff.

2 See above, p. 21ff. In the case of Carthage the fact must not be over-
looked that ancient tradition in general makes Tyre the mother; see Meltzer,
Geschichte der Karthager, I, p. 124. J. A.O. S., 1890, p. LXXff.

3 Sallust, Jug., 78.

4 Stephanus Byzantius, Ethnicorum quae supersunt, s.v. 'QMapog.

5 Historia naturalis, V, 17.

112 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

torians are inclined to believe that it was founded by Carthage. 1
In the case of the latter Sidefows may be used in the wider sense,.
or we may perhaps assume that a Sidonian settlement of the
character described below existed there. Even these refer-
ences, therefore, do not prove that Sidon founded colonies in
the commonly accepted sense of that term.

To explain the historical development of the so-called Phoeni-
cian colonies, it is necessary to place their origin in a period
much earlier than that in which the Phoenician coast cities first
came into prominence. The traditions which connect them with
these cities arose at a time when, as is true in other cases, the
actual course of events was no longer known. However, the
process of reasoning which is responsible for the traditions can
still be traced. Here were certain Semitic settlements away
from the mainland, or in regions distant from the better-known
Semitic nations: what could be more natural than to look upon
them as colonies of the latter? Their language, customs, and
religion resembled the language, customs, and religion of the
Phoenicians; hence they must be colonies of the Phoenicians.
The relative prominence of the Phoenician cities at the time of
the origin of the traditions would determine which of the cities
was to be regarded as the ' ' mother. ' ' Traditions arising during
the supremacy of Sidon would connect the colonies with it r
while at another period the same colonies might be connected
with Tyre, and in periods of intense rivalry each city would try
to overcome the claims of the other by adding new colonies to its
own list. Tradition credits Tyre, which was the most prominent
Phoenician city during the greater part of Phoenician history,
with the largest number of colonies.

The beliefs concerning the founding of these colonies would be
fostered by another fact. The Phoenicians were from the
earliest times a seafaring nation, the mediators between the
Orient and the Occident. Being such, it would be to their
interest to establish commercial relations with the people

1 See E. Meyer, in Ency. Bibl., art. Phoenicia.

COMMERCIAL SETTLEMENTS 113

living upon the islands and shores to the west. It was quite
natural that their fellow-Semites, who had settled there at ap-
proximately the time when the Phoenicians established them-
selves on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and who
for some generations at least must have remembered the inti-
mate racial connection existing between them, would grant to
them certain privileges which might prove of mutual advantage ;
for example, they might permit them to erect warehouses, or
factories, or even to plant small settlements of merchants who
could trade with the more remote districts in the interior. We
may assume even that similar privileges were granted by non-
Semitic communities. In a certain sense these settlements
might be called colonies, but not in the sense in which it is com-
mon to speak of Phoenician colonies, and yet only in this limited
sense are we warranted to speak of colonies founded by the
cities of Phoenicia. These statements do not mean to deny
that there may have been occasions when individuals, or families,
or groups of families found it desirable, for economic or political
reasons, to leave their homes; in such cases they would quite
naturally turn westward to find new homes among their kins-
men there. Migrations of this character may also have been
responsible for the presence of Sidonian or Tyrian "colonies"
in the midst of the older Semitic settlements. These three facts
— the close x^cial connection between the Phoenicians and the
inhabitants of the islands and shores west of them, the estab-
lishment by the Phoenicians of small commercial settlements in
the midst of the older "colonies," and migrations on a small
scale from the Phoenician cities — are the historical basis of the
traditions concerning the colonial activities of the ancient
Phoenicians.

This conclusion finds further support in the history of these
" colonies." In the first place, though traces of early Semitic
influence may be seen in many places, it was not able to
maintain and assert itself permanently in the presence of
stronger native elements; hence it soon died out. There are,
indeed, only a few places — for example, Carthage, Cyprus, Spain

114 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

— in which the invaders succeeded in establishing permanent
Semitic communities. 1 Again, the presence of commercial estab-
lishments explains most readily the maintenance of constant
communication between these colonies and the more promi-
nent commercial centres of Phoenicia. Moreover, so far as we
can judge, the influence of the Phoenician cities in the affairs
of these distant settlements was insignificant; it was chiefly
commercial; which is quite natural, if the situation was as
described above. The exact share of the city of Sidon in these
" colonizing" enterprises it is difficult to determine. It
undoubtedly varied according to the fortunes of the city at
home. In* times of prosperity and success her commercial
activities abroad would be considerable; in periods of decline
•and misfortune her commerce would be pushed into the back-
ground. Undoubtedly in this, as in other respects, Tyre
played the more prominent role.

While it may be necessary to reject as exaggerated many of
the traditions concerning the early colonial activities of the
Phoenician cities, there is no good reason for questioning the
traditions concerning the commercial prominence of Sidon and
her sister cities. The Phoenicians were destined by nature k)
become a seafaring nation. 2 On the one hand, there was little
opportunity for agriculture or sheep raising in the narrow strip
of land along the coast; on the other hand, the Phoenician terri-
tory possessed excellent harbor facilities, while the coast farther
south had but one harbor, that of Joppa. This in itself
makes it more than probable that even the pre-Phcenician in-
habitants of the land knew and practiced navigation and ship-
building, thus preparing the way for their Semitic successors,
who became the commercial mediators between the East and
the West.

The famous twenty-seventh chapter of the Book of Ezekiel,

1 Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums, II, p. 141ff. On the influence of political
disorder upon the founding of new Phoenician settlements see also Jastrow,
The Founding of Carthage, in J. A. 0. S., 1890, p. LXXff.

1 Pomponius Mela, 1, 12.

PHOENICIAN COMMERCE 115

which deals with Tyre, reveals the wide extent of Phoenician
commerce during the first half of the sixth century B.C. Among
the nations mentioned there as carrying on an active trade with
the Phoenician city are Northern Syria, Syria of Damascus, Judah,
Israel, Egypt, Arabia, Babylonia, Assyria, Upper Mesopotamia,
Armenia, Asia Minor, Ionia, Greece, Cyprus, Tarshish. 1
Ezekiel furnishes also a very complete. idea of the articles of
commerce. From Northern Syria came cotton, embroidery,
and precious stones; from Syria of Damascus, the wine of Helbon 2
and white wool; from Israel and Judah, pannagh, 3 corn, honey,
balm, and oil; from Egypt, fine linen; from Arabia, spices, cassia,
calamus, lambs, rams, goats, cloths for chariots, gold, wrought
iron, precious stones, ivory, and ebony. Babylonia and Assyria
furnished choice wares, wrappings of blue and broidefed work,
and chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar.
Upper Mesopotamia, represented by Haran, shared in this
traffic. Armenia sent horses, chargers, and mules; Asia Minor
and Ionia, persons of men and vessels of brass; Cyprus, benches
of ivory inlaid with boxwood. From Greece came "blue and
purple, ' ' probably shell fish, which were used in the manufacture
of purple. Tarshish supplied silver, iron, tin, and lead. An-
other fact made plain by Ezekiel is that the land trade was more
extensive than the trade requiring navigation. With the excep-
tion of the last four districts named by him, all could be reached
from Tyre by land, most of them only by land. At times Egypt
and the south coast of Asia Minor may have been touched by
vessels, but even with these countries the greater part of the
trade was carried on over land routes.

When these words of Ezekiel were uttered Tyre was the lead-
ing city of Phoenicia. Sidon had not yet fully recovered from
the awful blow struck by Esarhaddon; and yet there can be no

1 The prophet is probably thinking of Spain. Various other identifications
have been suggested. See Encycl. Bibl., art. Tarshish.

2 A delicious drink ; Strabo, Geographica, XV, 3, 22.

3 A word of uncertain meaning; the text may be corrupt; Cornill emends
JJil, meaning wax.

116 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

doubt that it had a large share in the commerce described here
and in the resulting prosperity. That much is implied in the
prophet's statement that the Sidonians were the mariners of
Tyre, 1 which must mean that they assisted the Tyrians in
carrying out their commercial enterprises.

The Homeric poems describe the commercial relations be-
tween Greece and Phoenicia as they were supposed to have been
in the days of the Trojan wars, and they picture the Sidonian
ships as crossing the Mediterranean in every direction. ' ' There
lay the beautiful embroidered robes, the work of the hands of
the Sidonian women, brought far over the waters wide, even
from Sidon." 2 And again, "Then set Peleides forth a mazer of
silver mould, the prize for swiftness of foot; six measures the
same would hold; and for beauty there was not the like thereof
in any land, for it was fashioned by skillful Sidonian workmen,
and Phoenician shipmen had brought it oVer the misty wave." 3
Once more, "There came some famous Phoenician shipmen,
knaves who brought in their ship multitudes of trinkets. ' ' 4

On account of the wider use of the term Sidonian by Homer, 5
it is difficult to determine from these passages the exact share
which Sidon had in these enterprises. The same difficulty is
encountered in Herodotus' statements concerning the early
period of Phoenician history, and even in some which deal with
the later days. When he says, for example, that on settling the
shores of the Mediterranean Sea the Phoenicians began to occupy
themselves with distant sea voyages, 8 it is not easy to decide
which city of Phoenicia took the lead. But if Sidon was the
first city occupied by the Phoenicians, it is not improbable that
the first vessels departed from its harbor, though its lead may
not have continued for any length of time. However, even if

1 Verse 8. The prominence of Sidon in the affairs of Phoenicia is implied
also in other prophecies of this period; see above, p. 56ff.

• II, VI, 289-291. 8 II., XXIII, 740-744.

* Od., XV, 414, 415. Some passages imply that the Phoenicians were not
always scrupulous in their dealings; e.g., Od., Ill, 71; IX, 250ff.; XIV, 285ff.

1 See above, p. 1 9. 9 Histona, I, 1 .

COMMERCE IN ANTIQUITY 117

Sidon did not stand in the front rank of commercial^activity dur-
ing the early centuries of Phoenician history, its excellent harbor
facilities made it inevitable that it should have a large share in
the commercial undertakings of the ancient East.

The city is first mentioned as an independent seafaring power
in connection with the Persian period. Diodorus calls attention
to the wealth of its citizens, accumulated through commerce. 1
That Sidon was a well-known starting point for ships and a
place where shipbuilding was carried on is implied in Herodotus,
III, 136. 2 That greater prominence is given to the feats of the
Sidonian vessels in war 3 is due not to less activity in commerce
and other peaceful enterprises, but rather to the fact that the
ancient historians took a keener interest in war than in the arts
of peace. The Phoenicians who are said to have sailed around
Africa 4 may have been Sidonians. To the closing period of the
Persian supremacy belongs Joel 4 : 6, which accuses Sidon and
Tyre of selling Jews to the Greeks. From a later period comes
Zech. 9 : 2, which implies that Sidon was still prominent commer-
cially. The exact date of Is. 23 : 2 cannot be determined, but
it is certainly not earlier than the late Persian period, 5 and perhaps
much later. Whatever the exact date, its testimony is valuable as
a witness to the commercial prominence of Sidon : ' ' Behold, ye
inhabitants of the isle, thou whom the merchants of Sidon,
who pass over the sea, have replenished." A new impetus
was given to the commerce of the Phoenician cities by the exten-
sion of the Persian empire to India, which added the products of
India to their commerce. On the other hand, the friendly feel-
ing which existed between Sidon and the Athenians made
Sidon a favorite trading cenjfcre.

Little is known of the commerce of Sidon during the rule of
the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae, but during the early Roman
period a lively trade was carried on with Joppa, 8 which must
have extended also to other cities. In the absence of all testi-

1 Bibliotheca historica, XVI, 41. ' See above, p. 62.

3 See above, p. 61 ff. * Herodotus, IV, 42.

5 See above, p. 66. 8 Josephus, Ant., XIV, 10. 6.

118 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

mony 1 we may assume that during the first millennium of the
Christian era Sidonian commerce continued to prosper, though
other coast cities may have surpassed it; as long as the harbor
remained open and unobstructed trading vessels would find
it a convenient landing place. In the eleventh century it was a
flourishing commercial centre. 2 In the following century
Idrisi speaks of its thronged market places. 3 From the four-
teenth century comes the testimony of Ibn-Batuta, who men-
tions figs, raisins, and olive oil as articles of export. 4 That the
city possessed much wealth during the period of the Crusades is
evident from the fact that the inhabitants were quite ready to
purchase their freedom 5 or assistance 8 for large sums of money;
and this wealth presupposes commerce, which was the only
means by which the coast cities could acquire wealth. The
vicissitudes of the period of the Crusades affected seriously the
commercial standing of the city, and after the expulsion of the
Christians it regained its influence by very slow stages. In the
seventeenth century Fakhr-addin sought to restore its former
splendor, and to make it the mediator par excellence between the
Orient and the Occident. The resources of Sidon itself were
increased by the planting of numerous mulberry groves, which
resulted in the city becoming in a very little while the centre of
the silk industry in the East, from which great quantities were
exported to Marseilles. Unfortunately the commercial prospects
of Sidon were permanently impaired by the partial filling up of
its harbor. 7 Notwithstanding this act of folly the commerce, which
was almost exclusively in the hands of Frenchmen, continued to
prosper for many years. Not even the fall of Fakhr-addin in
1634 had a serious effect upon it, for in the latter part of the
century d'Arvieux wrote 8 that in his day the French trade had

1 The pilgrims were not interested in commerce, hence they are silent con-
cerning it. 2 See quotation from Nasir-i-Khusrau, on p. 81.
3 See above, p. 103. * Tuhfat an-nuzzar, I, 132.
5 See above, p. 83. • See above, p. 84.

7 This was intended to prevent the approach of the hostile Turkish fleet.

8 M&moires, I, p 311.

DURING THE CHRISTIAN ERA 119

grown to such dimensions that it brought annually into the
coffers of the government 200,000 crowns, and that it had become
so essential to the inhabitants that, if the French should remove
it to another place, the city would be immediately abandoned
and deserted. From Sidon, the residence of the French consul,
as the centre branches were established in the other coast cities,
and from it a caravan road led directly to Damascus and the
interior. The French consuls and merchants were diplomatic
enough to keep on good terms with the emirs and pashas who
succeeded Fakhr-addin, and thus succeeded in extending their
commerce more and more. The chief articles of export were
raw and spun cotton, silk, rice, nutgalls, ashes from the desert,
bird lime, senna, and several other drugs. At first these goods
were paid for in money, but in the course of time the French
began to import various articles in exchange, among them cloths,
spices, dye stuffs, and jewelry. 1 Though in time more and
more of the trade was transferred to Beyrut, Sidon continued
to occupy a prominent position commercially until toward the
close of the eighteenth century. In 1737, when Pococke visited
the place, all the merchants resided in the great Khan erected
by Fakhr-addin; the principal articles of export were raw silk,
cotton, and grain. 2 Hasselquist relates 3 that in his day, 1751,
more than twenty ships were sent annually to France, laden
chiefly with spun cotton and raw silk, but carrying also the
silken and half silken stuffs from Damascus, and nutgalls, oil,
and ashes. The imports were cloth, spices, Spanish iron, and
dye stuffs. In 1766 Niebuhr found fourteen French merchants,
all of whom lived in the Khan, 4 and Mariti 5 speaks in the follow-
ing year of seven or eight great French commercial houses.
In 1784 Volney found the commerce still chiefly in the
hands of the French, who had a consul and six commercial
houses in the city; raw and spun cotton and silk were the chief

1 D'Arvieux, Mtmoires, I, 334ff. ; 463ff.

3 Description of the East, II, 1, p. 87.

8 Voyages and Travels, p. 166. * Reisebeschreibung, III, p. 79.

5 1, p. 122, mentioned by Ritter, Erdkunde, XVII, 1, p. 404.

120 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

commodities. 1 Sidonian commerce received its deathblow
when in 1791 the French merchants were driven from the city
and the neighboring districts. 2 Since then the little trade has
been carried on chiefly by the natives. The European commerce
has turned almost entirely to Beyrut; only since 1894 have
English steamers made the city again a regular stopping
place. 3 In 1850 Neale wrote concerning Sidon : "It can
in no respect be called a commercial town, its import trade
being barely sufficient to meet the wants of the inhabi-
tants and its exports wholly insignificant." 4 And a few
years later Thomson also calls attention to the commercial
decline; the only articles of export he names are tobacco, oil,
fruit, and silk. 5 At the present time the chief articles of com-
merce are silk, cotton, figs, oranges, lemons, and grain. 6 But
these exchange hands in such small quantities that it is almost
impossible to speak of Sidon as a trading centre. ' ' The ancient
Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, ' ' says Schulz, ' ' are to-day
dead cities .... Sidon has lost its commercial standing, its
harbor is filled with sand, and only ruins remind one of the
former splendor of the city. ' ' 7 This statement of Schulz is per-
haps too sweeping, as may be seen from the statistics supplied
by Verney and Dambmann, 8 though even these make it clear
that the city does not enjoy at present its former prominence.

1 Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, II, p. 192.

' See above, p. 107.

'Verney et Dambmann, Les puissances itrangeres dans le Levant, p. 516.

4 Eight Years in Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor, 1842-1850, 1, p. 205.

6 The Land and the Book, I, p. 154.

9 Ritter, Geogr. -Statist. Lexicon, Vol. II, art. Saida. Badeker, Palestine
and Syria, 1906, p. 271.

' Syriens Rolle im Welthandel, 1900, p. 72. Cp. also Bulletin de V alliance
Israelite, 1902, p. 91.

8 Verney and Dambmann, Les puissances Hrangeres dans le Levant, pp. 365,
366. The commerce will undoubtedly increase when the railroads now under
construction or planned are completed (ibid., p. 396), for these will facilitate
intercourse with Beyrut, Damascus and other cities. That Sidon is still con-
sidered of commercial importance is shown by the fact that many nations
have consuls or consular agents in the city; ibid., passim.

IN MODERN TIMES

121

I. Vessels entering the harbor of Sidon during the years 1892
to 1897.

Sailing Vessels.

Steamers.

Year.

Numbers.

Tonnage.

Numbers.

Tonnage.

1892

679

85.

1893

856

9,633

35

34,354

1894

937

12,209

211

38,546

1895

765

10,476

251

34,287

1896

920

10,002

231

29,759

1897

781

7,831

218

38,253

II. Exports and imports during 1891-1897.

Year.

Exports.

Imports.

1891

1,555,000 francs.

1892

1,600,000

1893

1,280,000 "

1894

1895

1,300,000 "

700,000 francs.

1896

1,250,000

795,000 *'

1897

1,206,000 «'

828,000 "

A few words may be added concerning the industries of Sidon .
Popular etymology gave to the name of the city the meaning
"fish-town," because its inhabitants were known to be fisher-
men, and fishing has continued to be an important occupation
of Sidonians to the present day. 1 But among the ancients
Phoenicia was noted especially for three industries: 1. The
manufacture of textile fabrics. The materials used were wool,
linen, cotton, and in later times silk. The skill of the Phoenicians
along these lines is highly praised by Homer. 2 2. The manu-
facture of dyes, especially purple. 3 In this industry Tyre excelled

Neale, Eight Years in Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor, I, p. 205.
JZ.,VI,289. Oci., XV, 417. 3 Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia, p. 245ff.

122 COLONIES, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES

all other cities of Phoenicia, but there can be no doubt that
Sidon also had numerous establishments for the manufacture of
dyes. The shell-fish needed for this purpose were very numer-
ous along the coast near the city, and in a heap of rubbish in the
southeastern part of the city, on which stand the ruins of a
medieval castle, layers of purple shells are still visible. 3. The
manufacture of glass. Pliny credits the neighborhood of Sidon
with being the locality where glass was invented. 1 In this he
must be mistaken, for glass was manufactured in Egypt long
before there is the slightest trace of it in Phoenicia; nevertheless
there is no reason for questioning the accuracy of ancient tradi-
tion in so far as it implies that the Phoenicians manufactured
glass on a large scale, or that Sidon was an important seat of
the industry. 2 At Sarepta, which is not far from Sidon, have
been discovered extensive banks of debris, consisting of small
pieces of glass of various colors, and it has been suggested that
they represent the waste of an ancient glass factor}? - . 8 The
Phoenicians are said to have attained high perfection also in the
use of metals for artistic purposes; 4 and they had the reputation
of being experts in the architectural arts. 5 Many specimens of
the aesthetic arts have been uncovered in various parts of
Phoenicia and in the colonies. 8 All this information is concern-
ing the Phoenicians in general, and though at times the Sidonians
are mentioned by name, one must be careful in drawing con-
clusions, because in every case of this kind Sidonian seems to
be equivalent to Phoenician. Almost the only artistic remains
of antiquity which have been found in Sidon are those found in
the tombs and in the ruins of the Esmun temple, and they are not
numerous enough to enable us to draw a clear picture of the art
of Sidon.

1 Hist, nat., XXXVI, 65.

3 Ibid., V, 17. See further Appendix III ; below, p. 166f.

8 Lortet, La Syrie d'aujourd'hui, p. 113.

« II., XXIII, 740ff .

6 1 K. 5 : 6; chapter 7; 2 Chr. 2 : 12.

• Perrot et Chipiez, Hist, de Vart, Vol. Ill; cp. Rawlinson, History, p. 180ff.

INDUSTRIES OF SIDON 123

The industrial history of Sidon cannot be traced during the
early centuries of the Christian era. In the eleventh century
A.D. Nasir-i-Khusrau mentions the cultivation of sugar cane,
the beauty and excellence of the gardens and orchards, and the
wealth of the fruit trees. 1 Idrisi 2 in the twelfth and Ibn-Batuta
in the fourteenth century also call attention to the cultivation
of fruit trees. 3 In the thirteenth century Jacques de Vitry writes :
' ' It has fruit trees and vineyards, woods and fields, both pasture
and plow land, whereby its citizens are greatly benefited." 4
In the fifteenth century John Poloner speaks of the cultivation of
sugar cane and vineyards, "exceedingly good ones." 5 A new
industry, which has continued to the present day, was intro-
duced by Fakhr-addin when he covered the plains around Sidon
with mulberry groves. Though these groves were neglected by
his successors, they continued to furnish employment for
many people. Volney calls the manufacture of cotton the
principal industry in his day. 6 Stanley was impressed with the
numerous silk mills. 7 The decline of commerce was accom-
panied by a decline of the industries of the town; and to-day
fishing, the manufacture of cotton and silk on a small scale,
and the raising of a little fruit and grain are the mainstay of the
population. 8

1 See above, p. 81.

2 See above, p. 103.

3 See above, p. 2.

* P. P. T., XI, p. 6; cp. also Burchard of Mount Zion; P. P. T., XII, p. 14.

8 P. P. T., VI, p. 29.

8 Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, II, p. 192.

7 Sinai and Palestine, new edition, 1883, p. 341.

8 " The great mass of the population," says Angel, '* lives almost exclusively
on the income from the numerous gardens which surround the city, and whose
products are exported, in part to Egypt, in part to England, where the
oranges of Sidon, it seems, are particularly in demand." Bulletin de I' alliance
Israelite, 1902, p. 91. Verney and Dambmann, Les puissances etrangeres
dans le Levant, p. 465ff., mention the making of soap, and of oil, dyeing,
weaving and tile-making as industries of Sidon.

IV. THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

The purpose of this chapter is to bring together and systema-
tize the material which has bearing upon the religious life and
beliefs of the Sidonians, and to trace, with the aid of the informa-
tion thus secured, the religious history of Sidon from ancient to
modern times.

The available material consists, in the first place, of all the
inscriptions found in Sidon or other places which give evidences
of having been written by Sidonians or under Sidonian influ-
ences. The deities named most frequently in the inscriptions
of the Sidonian kings are [D&K and tT\PKff$. Esmunazar and
his mother erected a temple for Esmun; 1 so did Bod-astart; 2
the former built also a sanctuary for AStart, 3 and Bod-a§tart
erected a J"W (= column?) in honor of the same deity. 4 The
divine name JOt^N is an element of the name of the king
"ltfNOBW ffiPi&P of the royal name mW# "D, and of the
name of Esmunazar's mother niDtJ*^ DN. The latter is called
the priestess of A3tart, 5 while Tabnit and Esmunazar I are
called priests of AStart. 9 In addition to these two deities the
inscription of ESmunazar names as deities pV b$y and

The divine name *l¥ occurs in one inscription from Sidon. 9
Another inscription 10 names the deity \d~?W, and the names
in the same inscription contain the divine elements "ODD and
•?JD. In C. I. S., I, No. 5, is mentioned the deity \Xfr ^JD.
The name of Bod-astart's son contains the element pIV. 11

I C. I. S., I, No. 3, 1. 17. a See inscription, below, on p. 144.
8 C. I. a, I, No. 3, I. 16. * C. I. S., I, No. 4, 1 4.
8 C. I. S., I, No. 3, I. 15. • Inscription of Tabnit, 11. 1, 2.
7 C. I. S., I, No. 3, I. 18. • Ibid., I. 18. • See below} p. 165.
10 V. Landau, Beitrage zur Altertumskunde des Orient, II, p. 13, No. 7.

II See below, p. 146.

124

GODS WORSHIPED IN SIDON 125

C. I. S., I, No. 114, implies the worship of 'A-6Uw. The divine
name D^"T occurs in the names of the Sidonians mentioned in
C I. S., I, No. 115. The Greek text of the same inscription
reproduces mnSJM? 13^ by 'Afpodiaiuu, thus establishing the
identification of Astart = Aphrodite. In C. I. S., I, No. 116,
appear the elements rOH and JPOtP; fiJil being identified with
"Aprs/us, tffDtff with "Hhos. The name of the person who erected
the monument mentioned in C. I. S., I, No. 119, contains the
element ^D; 1 the same inscription names the deity ^JflJ.
Aidvuffos is found as an element in the name of a Sidonian in
C. I. A., II, No. 448, I. 16; IloctidSiv in C. I. A., II, No. 966, I. 21;
*?N in the Greek name 0e6dwpo?. 2 C. I. S., I, No. 308, gives the
name of a Sidonian as DTD,y=DN"lDy= servant of Isis; 3
in a Greek inscription from Sidon 4 occurs the element Baar, which
is the name of an Egyptian deity. A figure of the Egyptian
god Bes has also been found. 5

The inscriptions, then, whose testimony is admissible here
furnish the following divine names or titles :

ply

pic tyn

DN

oy-T

run

wt2V iv

\4n6XXat

'AippodlTTj

"A pre fit?

"mm?

Atovuaos

Uoaetdmv

Bolgt

Bes.

Several of these do not denote any particular deity; they are
titles which may be applied to different deities. To this class
belongs p¥ /jD, which denotes the chief deity of Sidon, in this

1 Not hyi.

2 C. I. A., II, No. 968, I. 53.

' The same name is found in an inscription mentioned below, on p. 165.

* Journal Asiatique, 1877, II, p. 162ff.

8 See below, p. 166. The Carthaginian inscriptions, C. I. S., I, 269-287,
289-293, which contain the names of several persons calling themselves
Sidonians, cannot be considered in this connection, for they reveal unmis-
takably Carthaginian influence.

126 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

case perhaps Esmun; 1 ^2 may be applied to any deity which
is considered the lord or possessor of a city or district; 2 it is
used in that sense in p¥ ^3 and pD 1 ? /)&', (Ms^TH means
god, and may be used of any deity. All the others are names
of deities known also from other sources. 3 Of these seven
belong originally to the Greek pantheon, 4 four are Babylonian
or Assyrian deities, 5 and three are Egyptian. 6 With the
foreign deities eliminated there remain as distinctly Phoenician
p&R, mn m\ p"TC, Dy-T, n^n. Of these peW, a male deity,
and mncy, a female deity, were the two chief deities of Sidon.
"l¥ was taken over from the pre-Phcenician inhabitants of the
land.

The worship of Esmun was not confined to Sidon; traces of it
are found wherever the Phoenician civilization went. 7 He first
appears as a Phoenician deity in an inscription of Esarhaddon,
in which his name has the form Ia-su-mu-nu. 9 The material
at our command does not enable us to determine the conception
of his nature and character which was held by his Phoenician
worshipers. Baudissin thinks that originally he was a nature
deity, 9 and Barton considers him the counterpart of the Baby-
lonian Duzu or Tammuz. 10 If this identification is correct, as
seems very probable, Esmum was originally the god of the
spring vegetation." As such he may have been a favorite deity

I Baudissin, Z. D. M. G., 1905, p. 497, thinks that another deity is meant,
one superior to Esmun, but that is not probable. La Grange identifies him
with "Of; fitudes sur les religions Simitiques, Paris, 1903, p. 408.

a W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, new edition, p. 94ff.

3 It must not be supposed that these are the only deities worshiped by the
Sidonians, but since these are the only deities certified by the inscriptions, we
may confine ourselves to them.

* 'Air6Mu } "Apre/uig, 'AQpod'iTr/, Ai6vvoo(;,"IVuo(;, Hooeidwv, "ODD.

» hi, SrU pVVi BW- ' DK, Batxr, Bes.

7 Z. D. M. G., 1905, pp. 466-472.

8 Altorientalische Forschungen, II, pp. 12, 13, 1. 14.

9 Z. D. M. G., 1905, p. 502. 10 J. A. O. S., XXI, pp. 188-190.

II Jastrow, Relig. of Babyl. and Assyria, p. 588; Sayce, Religions of Anc.
Egypt and Babylonia, p. 350, n.; cp. Z. D. M. G., 1905, p. 503; Barton, A
Sketch of Semitic Origins, p. 85 ; see also references given in note 3 on the
same page.

E&MUN AND A&TART 127

of that portion of the Semitic race which settled in Phoenicia.
When these immigrants advanced in influence and power his
humble origin was forgotten, and in time he became one of the
chief deities of the Phoenician pantheon. Esmun had at least
one temple in Sidon, on the south side of the Nahr-al-Auwaly, 1
but nothing has been discovered in the ruins of that temple to
determine the nature of the worship practiced there. The form
was probably similar to that found among other Semitic nations
which had attained to a similar degree of civilization.

While Esmun was the principal male deity of Sidon, the
female Astart seems to have been considered his superior. 2 Her
worship also was found wherever Phoenician influence pene-
trated. 3 Like Esmun, she is not of Phoenician origin; indeed,
in some form she is worshiped by all Semitic nations. 4 Her
prototype is the Babylonian Istar, or, perhaps better, a deity
worshiped by the Semites before the race was broken up into
different tribes and nations. Astart appears among the different
Semitic nations under the most divers aspects, but everywhere
there is connected with her the idea of generation and pro-
ductivity. Barton calls her "the Semitic mother goddess." 5
As in the case of Esmun, so in her case it is impossible to deter-
mine the Phoenician conception of her nature and character
from the inscriptions or from the contemporaneous records
preserved in the Old Testament; but, she being one of the prin-
cipal deities, it is quite likely that her influence was thought to
extend over all spheres of human life and activity. The inscrip-
tion of Tabnit 8 shows that she was thought to be interested in
the welfare of her worshipers even after death, and that the

1 Cp. above, p. 7f.

2 An indication of this is the fact that the Sidonian kings call themselves
priests of Astart — Tabn., II. 1, 2; cp. Esmun., I. 15. Bod-a§tart also showed
first honors to Astart — C. I. S., I, No. 4, 1. 5.

3 Barton, The Semitic Rtar Cult, in Hebraica, X, p. 202; see also Zimmern,
in Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, dritte Auflage, p. 420ff., La Grange,
Etudes, p. 119ff., Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens , I, p. 214ff.

4 Hebraica, X, pp. 12, 14, 68.

6 Ibid., p. 71 ; cp. Z. D. M. G., 1905, p. 503. 8 I. 6.

128 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

desecration of their tombs was an abomination to her. Esmuna-
zar and his mother erected for her a temple, which may have been
still in use when Lucian visited the city. 1 He ventures the
opinion that Astart was a moon-goddess, but there is no evidence
that she was looked upon as such at an earlier time. 2 Nor is there
any evidence in the Phoenician inscriptions that her worship
was accompanied by licentious practices. 3 Though information
concerning the character of her worship is lacking, we may
assume that the kings who called themselves her priests spared
no effort or expense to make it impressive and beautiful. In
the Babylonian religion Tammuz appears as the spouse of Bstar;*
a similar close connection exists in Sidon between A§tart and
Esmun.

The relation of tyl DG? mn W to PT\my is obscure. The
uncertainty extends even to the reading and translation of the
name. Some translate "Astart, the name (= expression) of
Baal"; others, with less probability, "Astart of the heavens of
Baal," i.e., AStart, the consort of DDJ^ ^JD. Whatever the
exact force of the combination, it undoubtedly denotes a dis-
tinct deity, who was thought to be in some sense a reflection
of a Baal. 6 It is not improbable, however, that the expression
points to a time when A§tart was worshiped as an androgynous
deity. 6

pl¥ appears as the name of a deity in the name of the son
of king Bod-A3tart. A statement of Yakut also points to the

1 De Syria dea, § 4. 2 Cp. La Grange, Etudes, p. 128.

3 But see below under ' AfypodiTT) .

4 Sayce, Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, p. 350.

8 Cp. Ex. 23 : 21 ; Baethgen, Beitr&ge zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, pp.
267, 268.

8 The discussion of the androgynous character of As"tart or IStar is outside
the scope of this chapter. It may be sufficient to say that evidence is
accumulating continually to show that there was a time when masculine and
feminine qualities were attached to her. Barton, J. A.O. S., XXI, p. 185ff. ;
A Sketch of Semitic Origins, especially chapters III-VI; Sellin, Tell Ta'annak,
p. 105ff . ; W. R. Smith, The Religion of the Semites, new ed., p. 58. Com-
pare also the Talmudic tradition concerning j'SUHfl 11, Monatsschrift fur
Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, XLIX, p. 682.

PHOENICIAN DEITIES 129

presence of a deity bearing that name in the pantheon of Sidon.
He says, "Saida is called after Saidun, son of Sadaka, son of
Canaan, son of Noah." 1 The same deity is represented by the
mythological figure Zbdux, mentioned by Philo Byblius. 2 A
deity bearing the same name occurs in the Old Testament names
plVjlN, 3 DIVO^D, 4 and many more. The descendants
of ludux are said by Philo to have been known as the inventors
of medicine and music. Outside of the name nothing is known
of this deity. 5 The same is true of 0^1, though the name is
found several times and occurs also transliterated in Greek
inscriptions.

A3j"I occurs in C. I. S., I, No. 116, in the name of a Sidonian
living in Athens. Nevertheless it is doubtful that the worship
of Tanith was practiced to any extent in Sidon. So far as we
know, it was confined to Carthage and its colonies. niHI^y
was in his religion probably more of a Carthaginian than a
Sidonian. 8

From the Phoenician deities, of whom, excepting Astart and
Esmun, little is known, we may pass to the deities imported from
Babylonia or Assyria. Salman was one of the minor deities in
the Assyrian pantheon. 7 Of Samas, the sun-god, Jastrow says :
"There is no deity whose worship enjoys an equally continued
popularity in Babylonia and Assyria. Beginning at the earliest
period of Babylonian history and reaching to the latest, his
worship suffers no interruption." 8 Bel, the Semitic successor of
the pre-Semitic En-lil, god of Nippur, was for many centuries
the chief deity in Babylonia, until he yielded his supremacy to
Marduk, the god of Babylon. 9

1 Mu'jam al-bulddn, III, p. 439 ; cp. Clermont-Ganneau, Rec. d'arch. or., V,
p. 207ff. 2 Phcenicum historia, II, 11. s Josh. 10 : 1.

4 Gen. 14 : 18; Ps. 110 : 4. It is found also in South Arabia; La Grange,
Etudes, p. 377. 5 Baethgen, Beitrage, p. 128. 6 Ibid., p. 55.

7 Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 188.

8 Ibid., p. 68.

9 Sayce, Religions, pp. 301, 302. For the Assyrian deities cp. also K.A.T?,
pp. 437f., 367ff ., 354ff., 412ff ., and the German edition of Prof. Jastrow's work,
vol. I, pp. 220ff., 229, 52ff.

130 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SID ON

Nergal was originally the god of the cityCuthah; he is better
known, however, as the god of the nether regions, and of some
of the evils that bring death, for example, pestilence and war. 1
Assyrian deities were introduced into Sidon by the Assyrians and
Babylonians whom Esarhaddon transplanted thither after the
destruction of the island Sidon and the founding of a new
city. 2 The new colonists brought with them their own gods, 8
and as they intermarried with the native population some of
their deities were adopted into the Sidonian pantheon.

Phoenicia was under the sway of Egyptian rulers at three
different periods : before the Tel-el-Amarna period, 4 under
Necho 5 and under the Ptolemies. 8 Commercial intercourse
between the two countries existed also at other times. As a
result of this close connection, and perhaps also through the
migration of Egyptian families to Phoenicia, Egyptian deities
were introduced into Sidon and other Phoenician settlements.
The Sidonian inscriptions bear witness to the adoration of Isis and
Bast, and the statue of the Egyptian god Bes has been found
in the city. Other Egyptian deities are mentioned in C. I. S., I,
Nos. 9, 50, 111b.

All these deities, with the possible exception of Isis, Bast, and
Bes were worshiped in Sidon before it came under the influence
of Greece; and we may assume, in the absence of all information
concerning the religious practices of the early periods, that the
deities who are essentially Phoenician were worshiped from the
time of the Phoenician immigration. 7 Neither the mythological
stories of Sanchuniathon, preserved by Philo Byblius, 8 nor the
Sidonian cosmologies, preserved by Damascius, 9 are of much
help here, because both writers are influenced by the mytho-
logical and philosophical notions of a later time. 10 However, if

1 Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 66. 2 See above, p. 53.

» Cp. 2 K. 17 : 35. * See above, p. 33ff. • See above, p. 58.

6 See above, p. 71ff. 7 See above, p. 29.

8 The existence of 2vdwc = pt3f may be established from II, 11.

• See below, p. 132.

10 See Gruppe, Die Griechischen Kulte und Mythen, p. 385ff.

NON-PHCENICIAN DEITIES 131

the etymology of the name p¥ suggested in another connec-
tion 1 is correct, one other deity must have belonged at one time
to the pantheon of Sidon, namely, the non-Semitic IV, who
was adopted by the Semitic immigrants from the non-Semitic
settlers of the country. The name of this deity is found
in only one Sidonian inscription, but it occurs in several
Phoenician inscriptions from other places. 2 Nothing is known
of him except the name, which came to be connected with the
root TV, ' ' to hunt ' ' ; and it is not improbable that Philo has
him in mind when he speaks of 'Aypsus, the first hunter, and
'AXUus, the first fisherman. 3

The excavations have shed little light upon the interior of
Sidonian temples or the form of worship practiced there. What
we do know makes it probable that in all essentials the worship
of the Phoenicians resembled that of other Semitic nations
which had attained to a similar degree of civilization. Like the
Assyrian and Babylonian kings, the Sidonian rulers gave ex-
pression to their devotion by the building or rebuilding of
temples. 4 It was customary to present votive offerings, 5 to
erect memorial columns, 8 and to offer first-fruits. 7 The king, 8
and sometimes even the queen, 9 occupied the office of pontifex
maximus.

The notions concerning a future life remained undeveloped to
the last. There was no expectation of a life beyond Sheol, 10 and all

1 See above, p. 13f.

3 See below, p. 165; C. I. S., I, Nos. 102a; 247-249. A probable reason for
the early disappearance of "W is suggested on p. 14; see further above, p. 13f.

3 Phcenicum historia, II, 9. Cp. La Grange, Etudes, p. 374.

'SoEsmunazarllandBod-astart. * C.I. S., I, No. 5. • C. I. S., I, No. 4.

7 C. I. S., I, No. 5. 8 Tabnit and Esmunazar I ; see inscr. of Tabn., II. 1,2.

• Em-AStart; C. I. S., I, No. 3, I. 15.

10 lb., I. 8, mentions 0X21, which shows that the departed were thought to
have only a weak, shadowy existence; cp. Is. 14: 9ff . HaleVy ascribes to the
Sidonian kings a well-developed spiritual conception of immortality (Me-
langes d'epigraphie et d' archeologie sSmitiques, p. 146ff., Congres internat. des
orient., 1873, II, p. 254ff .), but this view is based upon a mistranslation and
misinterpretation of C. I. S., I, No. 3, 11. 3. 16. 17. When translated properly,
the inscriptions give no support to Halevy's view.

132 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

one could wish for was a peaceful existence there. It was thought
that the peace of the departed was disturbed by the desecration of
his tomb; therefore the bitterest curses were pronounced upon
any one who would dare to commit such a crime. 1 The Sidonians
believed also, like the Babylonians, 2 that the lack of a proper
burial would interfere with the rest of the dead in Sheol. 3 Since
the only immortality known was to live in one's offspring,
childlessness was looked upon as the most dreadful curse. 4

Fragments of two Phoenician cosmologies have been handed
down, that of Sanchuniathon, preserved by Philo Byblius, which
originated probably in Byblos, and another which comes from
Sidon. A translation of the latter is said to have been made by
Eudemus, a pupil of Aristotle, and an extract from this transla-
tion is preserved by Damascius. 5 "According to this author —
i.e., Eudemus — the Sidonians place before all things Xp6v<>s,
II6ffos, e and 'OixiyXfj. 1 Of II6do$ and 'Op-far], mixed as two prin-
ciples, were born 'Aijp and Aupa. 'Aijp represents, according to
their view, the unmixed essence of the intelligible, but Ad pa,
which is set in motion by it, the first living form of the intelligible.
Again from the last two was born a»r«?, 8 which I think is intel-
ligible reason.' ' Another recension of the Sidonian cosmology
is credited to the Sidonian philosopher Mochus; this also is pre-
served by Damascius: AW-qp was first and 'Aijp. These are the
two principles of which was born OuXupd?, the intelligible 9*4s f
which I think is the summit of the intelligible. From him,
uniting with himself, they say, was begotten Xoutwpos, the
first opener; then an egg, which, I believe, they call the intelli-

1 76., II. 4-12; 20-22; Tabn., II. 3ff. A similar idea prevailed in Babylonia.
Asurbanapal, for example, boasts that he destroyed the graves of the Elam-
ite kings and dragged their bones to Assyria; and he rejoices that this will
leave their shades unprotected. Rassam Cyl., Col. VI 11. 70-76; cp. Jere-
mias, Holle und Parodies, in Der Alte Orient, I, 3, p. 13f.

J Jastrow, Religion, p. 512. K.A.T. 3 , p. 638.

• C I. S., I, No. 3, 1, 8. * 76., II. 11, 22.

' De principiis primis, ed. Kopp, § 125. 9 Desire. 7 Mist.

8 For wro?, owl, should probably be read, as in the recension of Mochus, wdf ?
an egg.

SIDONIAN COSMOLOGIES 133

gible reason; while they call the opener Xouou>p6$, the intelligible
power, because he was the first to make a distinction between
(hitherto) undistinguishable nature. However after the two
principles is the highest fatfto?, who is one; in the middle come
the two winds Xi<p and v6t<>s, which they place even before
0bXu>[i6<i. 0uXw/j.6$, then, would be intelligible reason itself, the
opener Xouatopd?, the first order after the intelligible, and the
egg 6 oupavds; for it is said that after it was broken in two there
were born of it obpavd? and yrj.

There can be no doubt that these cosmologies as preserved by
Damascius contain many non-Semitic elements ; we find our-
selves in the realm of Greek thought and speculation, and it is
not easy to discover the Phoenician elements hidden in the
account. Xpfoo?, though a Greek figure, may be compared with
the Semitic noun ti?ty; jwWo?, desire, the principle of action,
may be the counterpart of nil in Gen. i. 2, as tf/u/jphg may stand
for darkness, which is represented as being in the beginning by
many nations of antiquity; unless it be identified with chaos,
which appears in the Phoenician cosmology preserved by Philo
Byblius. The mixing of the two may be compared with the
brooding of the divine spirit upon the waters (Gen. i. 2). The
result was the genesis of all life. This seems to be implied in
the joining of 'Arjp and Aupa, in accord with the Semitic cus-
tom of expressing totality by the combination of two related
nouns, one masculine, the other feminine (Gesenius-Kautzsch,
Hebrew Grammar, 122 v.). The interpretation suggested by
Damascius here and in other parts of the account probably was
not in the Phoenician source. The next object to appear is the
world-egg, which is found in the cosmologies of many peoples.
The idea may have been suggested by the form of the sky,
which might be likened to one-half of an opened egg, while the
earth going downward would represent the other half. With
this the first recension comes to a close.

The second shows some variations. Here AlOvjp and 'Arjp,
which are probably to be identified with 'Ajjp and Aupa of the
first recension, come first. OuXwpos has been understood, though

134 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

perhaps wrongly, as the Greek form of Ebty, hence identical
with Xp6vo<i, who occupies first place in the other account.
Then appears again the world-egg, and Xooawpos, the opener, viz.,
of the egg. From the two halves of the egg opened by him were
formed heaven and earth. In this may be seen a trace of the
parting of the body of Tiamat in the Babylonian cosmology,
modified, perhaps, under Egyptian influence. Xov<rtop6<s
reminds one of the Egyptian deity Ptah, whose name may
have been connected by the Phoenicians with the root nj"l£> to
open. The allusion to the wind, especially the south wind and
the southwest wind, is not quite clear. Its peculiar position in
the account and the comments added may indicate that it was
not a part of the Phoenician cosmology, but was added at a
later time.

When, toward the close of the Persian period and after the
conquest of Syria by Alexander, a closer relation was established
between Phoenicia and Greece, Greek elements began to enter
into the religious life and thought of the Sidonians. One result
of this is seen in the identification of Phoenician deities with
deities belonging to the pantheon of Greece. A&tart was
identified with the Greek 'A^poScr^, 1 who, like Astart, was the
goddess of love and of fertility, both in the animal and in the
vegetable kingdom. 2 In Phoenicia the worship of Aphrodite
was accompanied by rites of an unchaste character. Lucian, in
a paragraph describing a visit to the temple of Aphrodite in
Byblos, states that women who did not wish to shave off their
hair in commemoration of the death of Adoni«, were compelled
to pay this penalty : "Ona certain day they stand for prostitu-
tion at the proper time; the market is open to strangers only, and
the pay goes as a sacrifice to Aphrodite." 3 At Aphaka, near
Mount Lebanon, stood another temple of Aphrodite, 4 in which

1 The Greek Aphrodite combined in herself Greek and Oriental elements
(Roscher, Lexicon der Griech. und Rom. Mythologie, art. Aphrodite) , which fact
would facilitate the identification.

3 Cp. Philo Byblius, II, 24. 3 De Syria dea, § 6.

* Sozomen, Eccles. Hist., II, 5.

"pi* J

° f The
°WV£ftS/TV

GREEK DEITIES 135

repulsive rites were practiced until they were suppressed by
Constantine. 1 To what extent similar rites were practiced in
Sidon we know not; but there is no reason to suppose that the
worship of Aphrodite was purer there than in other places.

Tanith was identified with "Aprsp.i?. Artemis appears some-
times as a nature goddess, causing fruitfulness, sometimes as
the ruler and guardian of the animal world, sometimes as the
protector of women in childbirth, and as protector of children
during the period of growth. Sometimes she appears as god-
dess of death, and as such she demands human sacrifice. 3 Samas,
the sungod, was identified with "Hfoo?, who filled the same office
in the Greek pantheon. Of the identification of the Sidonian
E§mun with the Greek 'AaxXymoi, the god of healing, there is
abundant evidence. A trilingual inscription 3 from Sardinia
begins "^Escolapio Merre— 'J«Vr Kqppn-XTWtQ ]D&ti!? pN 1 ?."
Damascius writes, 4 6 "Eopouvos, 8v 'AaxX^raov kp^ovaiv. In the
temple of Esmun in Sidon has been found a votive inscription
containing the name 'AffxXrjmwt* The same identification is im-
plied in the reference of Antoninus Martyr to a river Asclepios
near Sidon, 6 and of Strabo to an Asclepios grove between Beyrut
and Sidon. 7 The picture of Asclepios is found also on a coin
from Sidon. 8 Atdwoo? not only appears as an element in Sidonian
names, but is represented on many Sidonian coins. 9 From this
latter fact Baudissin infers, and perhaps rightly, that Esmun was
identified also with Dionysos; and he thinks that this identifica-

1 Eusebius, Vit. Constant., Ill, 55. Though, as has been said, the inscrip-
tions furnish no evidence of the unchaste character of the Astart worship, the
very fact that she was identified with a goddess whose worship was impure
may point in that, direction, as also the character of the Istar cult among
other Semitic nations.

2 Roscher, Lexicon, art. Artemis. 3 C. I. S., I, No. 143, 1.
4 Vit. Isador., § 302.

6 Mitteilungen der Vorderasiat. Gesellsch., 1904, p. 316, No. 12.
9 See above, p. 80.

7 Geographica, XVI, 2, 22.

8 Journal internal, d'arch. numism., 1902, pp. 269, 270; No. 1538

9 Z. D. M. G., 1905, pp. 483, 484; cp. Rouvier, in Journal internat. d'arch.
numism., 1902, pp. 99fl\, 131, 229ff.

136 THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SIDON

tion was earlier and more popular than the identification of
Esmun with Asclepios. 1

That the popular 'Atc6XXu> should be introduced into the
Phoenician pantheon is not surprising. C. I. S., I, No. 89,
identifies him with a Phoenician god t]£SH. The name
Reseph is found in the inscriptions of Bod-Astart, where
Halevy explains it as the name of a Sidonian deity. 2
While this explanation is doubtful, the other inscription shows
that Reseph was worshiped by the Phoenicians. Since the
root ntJH means to burn, the deity may have been the god of
fire; rasbu and rasubbu, derived probably from the same root,
are epithets of the Assyrian fire-god. The name occurs also in
a proper name on an Egyptian monument, and in the city
name Raspttna. The identification with Apollo is established
also by the city name Apollonia-Arsuf. 3 Apollo was, next to Zeus,
the most widely worshiped deity in Greece. Why he should
be identified with Reseph is not quite clear ; however, the iden-
tification with a fire-god may have been suggested by the fact
that from very early times Apollo was connected with the sun.
lIo<T£tda>v was adopted from the Greek pantheon to supply the
Phoenicians with a god of the sea, their own pantheon being
without one. 4 Honor was paid in Sidon to the daXd<raio<s Ze6?, 5
and in the hill country east of Sidon to the Zeus opeto?. 6 "ODD 7
is to be identified with the Greek Mvrmoouvr), the mother of the
nine muses. She appears nowhere as a deity of promi-
nence. In Hesiod, Theogonia, 915-917, she is named as the
fifth among the seven goddesses who are enumerated as having
born children to Zeus She shares her cult with her daugh-
ters, and sometimes she is spoken of as being worshiped
together with other deities.

These are the deities of whose worship in Sidon or by Sidonians

1 Z. D. M. G., 1905, p. 488. 2 See below, p. 145.

3 K.A.T. 3 , pp. 224, 478.

4 Baudissin, Studien, II, p. 177; but cp. La Grange, Etudes, p. 164.

8 Hesychius, Lex., under dalaaoioq.

• Renan, Mission, p. 397. 7 For 13TD.

PRESENT RELIGIOUS CONDITION 137

we have positive information. That other Phoenician and Greek
deities 1 had shrines there cannot be doubted, but for additional
light we must look to the excavations of the future.

Christianity was introduced in Sidon very early in the Apos-
tolic age; 2 in the fourth century the city was the seat of a Christian
bishop, 3 and the writings of the pilgrims show that he continued
to reside there. 4 With the Mohammedan conquest of Syria
Islam was introduced there, and it has remained the predominant
religion in the city to the present day. During the period of the
Crusades the Christians had at times the upper hand, but after
the final evacuation of the city by the Christians Islam pre-
vailed, though the Christians continued to reside there. The
latter did not remain unaffected by the schisms which troubled
the Church from time to time, and as a result different sects
arose. Jews, though at times few in number, have always been
found there. 5 In 1851 the American Presbyterian Mission
opened a station, which has done excellent work, especially
along educational lines. In 1896 Cuinet distributed the popula-
tion of about 11,000 among the different religions as follows:
8,000 Moslems, 2,250 Catholics (made up of Roman Catholics,
Greek United, Greek Orthodox, and Maronites), 600 Jews, and
180 Protestants. 6

1 DimaSki mentions a temple of Mercury, the Greek Hermes, in Sidon ;
Nukhbat ad-dahr, ed. Mehren, p. 43.

2 See above, p. 79. |

3 See above, p. 79.

4 Cp. also Orientalische Bibliographie, XVII, 56S7; XVIII, 5920, 5921.

6 In the latter half of the seventeenth century there were many Jews in
Sidon, who dwelt in a quarter by themselves, the keys of which were carried
every night to the Kadi or the governor. D'Arvieux, M&moires, I, p. 301.

8 For religious institutions see above, p. 109.

V. ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

The site of the ancient city of Sidon has supplied more objects
of historical and archaeological interest than any other city in
Phoenicia. Three localities have given forth most of these
objects — the necropolis in the south, 1 the necropolis in the east, 2
and the site of the temple of Esmun. The first necropolis was
discovered in January, 1855. While some natives were digging
for treasures near Maghdret Abltin they came upon a sarcophagus,
the cover of which contained a Phoenician inscription of twenty-
two lines, the first found in Phoenicia proper. The sarcophagus
proved to be that of Esmunazar II, king of Sidon. 3 Though
additional excavations were carried on in the same place, 4 it
remained the only find of value. The discoveries in the eastern
necropolis have been more numerous and important. The
most productive excavations there took place in 1887, and the
most interesting finds were again sarcophagi. 5

The tombs, which are all cut in limestone rocks, are of various
kinds. These were described by Renan 6 long before Hamdy
Bey made his remarkable discoveries, and the latter have con-
firmed the conclusions of the earlier writer in all essentials.
Renan distinguishes between three kinds of tombs. 1. Rectan-
gular grottoes, which are entered from above by perpendicular
shafts ten to thirteen feet in depth and three to seven feet in
width. Steps are cut in the side of the shafts which lead to
doors opening into plain, unadorned chambers. In only two
cases did Renan find the two chambers connected. This kind

1 See above p. 5. 3 See above p. 5.

1 Schlottmann, Die Inschrift Eschmunazars, p. 2.
* Z. D. M. G., X, p. 820.

1 0. Hamdy et The\ Reinach, Une nicropole royale a Sidon, Paris, 1892,
passim., cp. P. E. F., 1887, pp. 210-212; 1888, p. 5ff.; p. 140.
6 Mission de Phinicie, p. 401ff.

138

TOMBS AND SARCOPHAGI 139

he considers the oldest. 2. Vaulted grottoes with side niches
for the sarcophagi, or merely with square holes in the ground,
and with airholes communicating with the surface above. 3.
Grottoes cemented with lime, and decorated in Greek, Roman,
or Christian style, and generally furnished with Greek inscrip-
tions. Some of these also have airholes. Sometimes grottoes of
an earlier kind have been remodeled in a later style. 1 The sar-
cophagi also are of different styles. The grottoes of the first
kind, which are the oldest, contain marble sarcophagi of anthro-
poid form, i.e., receptacles accurately fitted to the shape of the
human body. In time these sarcophagi assumed a more simple
form, when only the position of the head was indicated by a
narrowing of the receptacle at one end. Sarcophagi of lead
and some with simple three-edged lids are also found. The
sarcophagi in the grottoes of the second kind are generally of
clay; those in the grottoes of the third kind resemble baths in
shape and are highly decorated. 2

Of the numerous sarcophagi found in these burying places only
two are of positive historical value, but two others may be con-
sidered briefly on account of their artistic beauty — the sarcophagus
of the mourning' women and the one called the sarcophagus of
Alexander 3 , both of which are beautiful specimens of ancient art.
Lewis describes the former in these words : "It represents a Greek
Ionic temple in antis, but with three-quarter columns only
between the two antae, and three-quarter columns to the sides.
Between each two columns or antse is a female figure showing
signs of deep affliction. In all there are eighteen of these
statues. The temple rests on a stylobate, having a finely
moulded base and surbase, the dado being enriched with figures,
partly sculptured and partly painted. The cover represents the
roof of a temple, and in the pediment at each end is a fine group

1 Renan, Mission, pp. 407, 408.

2 lb., p. 411 ; cp. also Perrot et Chipiez, Histoire de I'art, III, p. 151ff.

3 The reason for giving this name to the sarcophagus is stated below. All
ancient tradition points to Egypt as the final resting place of the great con-
queror. P.E.F., 1894, p. 120ff.

140 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

of sculpture. As a curious variation from the temple form,
there is along each side, surmounting the cornice, a tablet, on
which is carved a funeral procession." 1 Sittl thinks 2 that this
sarcophagus reflects the art of the fourth century B.C.

The so-called sarcophagus of Alexander is the grandest in the
collection. It is made of one block of white marble, about
eleven feet long, with a coped and pedimented cover. It has
no columnar decorations, but possesses an enriched cornice and
base. The panels between these on each side are filled with
sculptures of marvelously fine execution. On two sides the
subject is the chase, on the other two are represented combats
between warriors, both on horse and on foot. One prominent
figure reminded Hamdy Bey of that of Darius in a mosaic from
Pompeii, and another prominent figure, he thinks, represents
Alexander; and it is not improbable that the sculptures repre-
sent conflicts between the Persians and the great Macedonian.
The cover is the conventional coped form, but it is enriched with
rows of heads on the eaves line and on the ridge. At each end
of the eaves is a lion. 3 Sittl places this sarcophagus in the period
of the Seleucidae. 4

As works of art, these two sarcophagi, and to a less extent
others which have been unearthed, are exceedingly interesting,
but of direct historical interest are only two, the sarcophagus
of Esmunazar II and that of his father Tabnit. The former
was discovered on January 19, 1855, a short distance south of
Sidon. ' ' On the 19th of January last, ' ' reads one of the early
descriptions of the find, "some men were digging for more hid
treasures in the ancient cemetery on the plain of Sidon, called
Mughorat Tubloon, when, at the depth of about twelve feet
below the surface, and near the walls of an ancient edifice, they

1 P. E. F., 1888, pp. 5, 6. A fuller description is given by Reinach, Une
nicropole, chap. V, p. 238ff.

3 Archceologie der Kunst, Milnchen, 1895, p. 656.

8 Reinach, chap. VI, p. 272ff. ; P. E. F., 1888, p. 6 ; 1894, p. 120ff. An
excellent description, a reprint from the Bachir of Beyrut, is in P. E.F., 1887,
pp. 204, 205. * Archceologie der Kunst, pp. 684, 685.

ALEXANDER AND ESMUNAZAR 141

uncovered a sarcophagus, upon the lid of which is a long Phoeni-
cian inscription. The lid is of a blue-black marble, intensely
hard and taking a very fine polish. The lid is about eight feet
long by four feet wide. The upper end is wrought into the
figure of a female (?)* head and shoulders of almost a giant size.
The features are Egyptian, with large, full, almond-shaped eyes,
the nose flattened and the lips remarkably thick and somewhat
after the negro mould. The whole countenance is smiling,
agreeable, and expressive beyond anything I have ever seen in
the disinterred monuments of Egypt or Nineveh. The head-
dress resembles that which appears in Egyptian figures, while on
each shoulder there is the head of some kind of bird — a dove or
pigeon — and the bosom is covered by what appears to be a sort
of cape with a deep fringe, as of lace. On the lid, below the
figurehead, is the inscription, consisting of twenty-two lines,
closely written. ' ,a

From this inscription, which was in a good state of preserva-
tion, it was soon learned that the sarcophagus, though of Egyp-
tian make, 3 contained at one time the body of Esmunazar II,
king of Sidon, the son of Tabnit, king of Sidon, the grandson of
Esmunazar I, king of Sidon. In the inscription the younger
Esmunazar bewails the fact that he was taken away so early
in life. He states that he has prepared his own resting place, and
prays that no one may disturb his remains; but if anyone should
molest his tomb, may the curse of heaven rest upon him. 4 In
the second part he gives his genealogy and states that he reigned
together with his mother; he enumerates the temples erected by
them, acknowledges the gift of Dor and Joppa from the lord of
kings, and closes with a reiteration of the petition for the curse

1 Closer examination has shown it to be a male figure; cp. Meier, Die
Grabschrift des sidonischen Konigs Eschmun-ezer, p. 2. Other literature deal-
ing with this inscription is referred to in other parts of this chapter. Cp. also
Hoffmann, Ueber einige phonikische Inschriften, p. 30ff. ; that of Tabnit is dis-
cussed on p. 57f. La Grange, Etudes, p. 404ff. ; Tabnit, p. 408ff.

3 J. A.O. S., V, p. 228; cp. also Reinach, Une nicropole, p. 127ff.

3 Renan, Mission, p. 413ff.

4 See above p., 132.

142 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

of heaven upon anyone who may dare to desecrate his resting
place. 1

The sarcophagus of Tabnit is in some respects a counterpart
of that of Esmunazar. 2 It was uncovered on May 31, 1887, in
the necropolis east of Sidon. 9 This sarcophagus is of black
marble; like that of Esmunazar it is anthropoid in shape; but
while the latter shows the human form only in the head and
shoulders, the lines of the sarcophagus running from there
straight down, the sarcophagus of Tabnit has the flowing lines,
and so gives a more complete outline of the figure. The measure-
ments of the lid Hamdy Bey states to be as follows :

Length from head to foot 2 metres 30 ctm.

Width of shoulders 1 metre 10 "

Width of feet 80 "

Thickness of feet 40 "

Length of hieroglyphic lines 70 "

Width of hieroglyphic lines 10 "

Length of the Phoenician inscription 57 "

There are eleven lines of hieroglyphic writing, the epitaph
of an Egyptian general Penptah, covering the lower part of the
lid. " In this inscription, ' ' says Berger, ' • we have the
evident proof that we are in the presence of a sarcophagus
of Egyptian make, 4 which was diverted from its primary
destination and sold to Phoenicia, to receive the remains of a
Phoenician prince." 5 A Phoenician inscription of seven and a
half lines covers the feet. In substance it resembles that of

1 C. I. S., I, No. 3.

2 Reinach, Une ntcropole, p. 128; Berger, in Rev. arch., 1887, II, p. 4. The
Egyptian inscription is discussed on p. 8f.

3 For a full account of the discovery and description of the finds see Rev.
arch., 1887, p. 138ff.; Hamdy et Reinach, Une ntcropole, pp. 86ff., 127ff.

4 But cp. Rev. arch., 1905, II, p. 31ff .

5 Rev. arch., 1887, II, p. 5. Just how this sarcophagus and that of Esmun-
zar came to Sidon, it is difficult to tell. Probably it was stolen from an
Egyptian tomb. If so, the conquest of Egypt by Artaxerxes Ochus would
furnish a suitable occasion. See Rev. arch., 1887, II, p. 10.

TABNIT AND BOD-ASTART 143

Esmunazar, though it is much briefer. It opens with the gene-
alogy of the king, ' ' Tabnit, priest of Astart, king of the Sidonians,
son of Esmunazar, priest of Astart, king of the Sidonians, ' ' and
continues and closes with a curse upon anyone who might dare
to open and disturb his resting place. 1 The two inscriptions
name three generations of Sidonian kings, Esmunazar I, Tabnit,
Esmunazar II.

In 1858, only three years after the discovery of the sarcophagus
of Esmunazar, the English Consul, Mr. Moore, discovered on the
site of the ancient city a votive inscription of illil WD, king
of the Sidonians, 2 in which he states that he erected in the
beginning of his reign a pGP to Astart. A bilingual inscrip-
tion found in 1877 on the island of Delos 3 contains a similar
name, mfiWD)?, who is said to have been king of the
Sidonians. Though the two names are similar, there is enough
dissimilarity in the first elements of the two names to preclude
an identification of the two kings, and there is insufficient
reason for regarding the former an abbreviation of the latter. 4

Within more recent years the former name has been found in
a number of inscriptions which have been unearthed, since 1900,
in the ruins of the ancient Esmun temple, south of the Nahr-al-
Auwaly. 5 All these inscriptions represent copies, with important
variations in some cases, of the inscriptions of Bod-Astart com-
memorating the erection of the temple. 8 These inscriptions
have proved very troublesome to epigraphists, and opinions
vary still widely concerning the reading and translation of some

1 V. Landau, Beitrage zur Altertumskunde des Orient, II, p. 5, No. 4.

2 C. I. S., I, No. 4; Levy, Phonizische Studien, III, p. 25ff. Ewald, in
Abhandlungen der Kbniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Gbttingen, 1866,
p. 105ff. pl^ is a word of uncertain meaning; see Lidzbarski, Handbuch,
s.v. pty. Von Landau suggests the translation memorial column.

3 C. I. S., I, No. 114; cp. Bull, de corresp. hell, 1878, pp. 9, 10.
*J.A.O. 8., XXIII, p. 170. 5 See above, p. 8.
8 V. Landau, Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1904, p. 282, mentions

ten of the first class, i.e., inscriptions without the name of Bod-Astart's son;
ib., 1905, p. 11, he names ten of the second class, i.e., such as contain that
name. Cp. Der Alte Orient, VIII, 3, p. 14ff.

144 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

parts of the inscriptions, as well as concerning their date. Of
the first class we may select as a typical example the inscription
published by Torrey. 1 This inscription he reads:

•po p p ony ifrn nnnwnn *po
o* pno Dm* ~pn "mom

p fc>N ^tro pvo t)Bn pN DO") DBtf>

•w? d r mn rw ibo nvo

trip *w piwrt

This is his translation:

"The king, Bod-Astart, king of the Sidonians, grandson of
king Esmunazar, king of the Sidonians, reigning in Sidon-on-the-
sea, High-Heavens, and the Reshep district, belonging to Sidon;
who built this house like the eyrie of an eagle \ (he) built it for
his god Esmun, the Holy Lord. ' '

In a subsequent article 2 he suggests one alteration in the
fourth line; he combines the first two words, reading them,
"HM^W, which he translates " and he solidly walled." 3 In all
other respects he adheres to his first reading and interpretation.

The difficulties begin in line two, right after the name and title
of the king's grandfather. Beginning there v. Landau trans-
lates: 4 "In Sidon-sea, the high heavens, earth, netherworld,
Sidon rules, what in it and Sidon is ruler. This temple he has
built." This literal reproduction he retranslates: 5 "In Sidon
on the sea, in Samim-ramim in Eres-resaf im, Sidon, has he been
successful in that which he has built. And in Sidon in the
plain has he built this temple. ' ' In the terms Sidon on the sea,,
Samim-ramim = high heavens, Eres-resaftm = netherworld r
Sidon in the plain, he finds an illustration of the cosmological
theories of Winckler, 6 and he thinks that they denote at least

'J.A.O. S., XXIII, p. 156ff.

2 J.A.O. S., XXIV, p. 21 Iff.; cp. also XXV, p. 324ff.
s Ibid., XXIV, pp. 216, 217.

* Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1904, p. 321. • lb., p. 328.

9 Himmelsbild und Weltenbild, Leipzig, 1901, in Der A Ite Orient, vol. Ill
p. 22ff.

INSCRIPTIONS OF BOD-ASTART 145

three different quarters of Sidon, 1 which were looked upon as
reflections of different spheres of heaven. 2 Berger thinks that
the meaning of the names is still an open question. 3 Clermont-
Ganneau recognizes five place names in the inscription — Sidon on
the sea, Samim-ramim, Eres-resafim, Sidon-Misal, Sidon of
the plain. 4 Halevy thinks that the names are names of deities
and not of places, and he translates: "In Sidon (the gods) Yam,
Samim-ramim, Eres-resafim, Sidon constitute the government
which is in our midst, and (the god) Sidon exercises the sov-
ereignty. ' ' 5 The exact meaning of the terms cannot be consid-
ered definitely determined, and yet it seems most natural to
interpret them as denoting different quarters of Sidon. On the
whole, Torrey, who indulges in the least amount of speculation,
seems to offer the explanation which is at once the most simple
and the most satisfactory. 6

The inscription raises, however, other questions. Bod-
Astart calls himself "grandson of king Esmunazar, king of the
Sidonians. ' ' Is this the Esmunazar who is called the father of
Tabnit and the grandfather of Esmunazar II? If so, what is
the relation of Bod-Astart to Tabnit and Esmunazar II? The
first question is answered almost universally in the affirmative.
Von Landau is the only one among recent writers who seems
inclined to assume another dynasty. He places the dynasty
of Esmunazar and Tabnit in the period of the Ptolemies, and that
of Esmunazar and Bod-A§tart in the Persian period. 7 Those
who believe that Bod-A§tart belongs to the dynasty known

1 Mitteil. der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1904, p. 324. He calls them
Sidon on the sea, Sidon, Sidon on the plain.

2 Sidon on the sea = the heavenly ocean; Sidon = DD1 DDIP = the upper
heaven; Sidon on the plain = D3&5H |nx = the realm of fire = the heavenly-
earth. 8 M6m. de Vacad. des inscr. et belles lettres, XXXVII, p. 265ff.

* Rec. d'arch. or., V, p. 225.

6 Rev. Simit., 1905, p. 68ff.; cp. 1902, p. 347ff.; 1903, p. 48ff.

' A brief resum6 of the various attempts to translate and interpret the in-
scriptions of Bod-Astart may be found in Repertoire d' 6pigraphie se'mitique,
I, p. 234ff.

7 Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1904, p. 307; 1905, p. 9.

10

146 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

from the other inscriptions held, until quite recently, that
Bod-Astart was the son of a son of Esmunazar I, who had
never come to the throne, and that he became king after the
death of Esmunazar II. 1 But when an inscription was dis-
covered containing the name of a king frVp*1¥, in a position
where the name of Bod-Astart's father might be expected,
it became necessary to reopen the subject, for room had to be
found for another king. The question assumed a new aspect when
additional inscriptions associating the two names mHWD
and JJTp"l¥ were discovered, for it was found that the first
discovered inscription had been read incorrectly, and that the
views based upon the incorrectly read text had to be modified.
The following may be considered an accurate reproduction of one
of these inscriptions: 2

orrc ^pa T*?a |n»p-rc pi riv«TO *po
p r ran nm on* t*?o -hjnqb>k "f?b p p

trip 1B> ptrN 1 ? *wh

The presence of the conjunction 1 after PDnwy*M in the
first line suggests that the relationship between Bod-Astart
and Sedek-yathon is not the same as that indicated in the
inscriptions in which the conjunction is absent; in other words,
that Bod-Astart does not mean to call Sedek-yathon his father.
A literal translation of 11. 1, 2 would be: "King Bod-Astart,
and the son Sedek-yathon, the king, the king of the Sidonians,
built this house"; which means that Bod-Astart and Sedek-
yathon were associated in the building enterprise. 3 ' ' The son, ' '

1 Berger, Memoires de I'acad. des inscr. et belles lettres, XXXVII, pp. 288,
289 ; Clermont-Ganneau, Rec. d'arch. or., V, p. 249 ; Torrey, J.A.O.S., XXIII,
p. 168, n. 1.

2 Mitt, der V order asiatischen Gesellschaft, 1905, p. 5.

3 The omission of the 1 as due to a mistake of the ancient writer would
remove the peculiarity and bring this inscription into accord with other royal
inscriptions from Sidon, but the fact that the 1 is found in every inscription
containing the two names is a strong argument against the textual emenda-
tion.

INSCRIPTIONS OF BOD-ASTART 147

in the first line, may be equivalent to "his son," i.e., the son of
Bod-Astart ; he is called also T??^ but there is no indication
of the place where he ruled. This omission has led von Landau
to take ififc in the sense of "member of the ruling dynasty"
or "prince/' more particularly "crown prince," the prince
who is expected to succeed the king upon the throne. 1 A similar
usage is found in southern Arabia, and there is nothing improb-
able in the suggestion. In classical Arabic the corresponding
noun is used with the meaning vizier. If it is adopted, the
entire inscription may be translated: "King Bod-Astart and
(his) son Sedek-yathon, the crown prince, king of the Sidonians, 2
grandson of king Esmunazar, king of the Sidonians, built this
house to his god Esmun, the holy lord. ' '

This translation makes Sedek-yathon not the father, but the
son of Bod-Astart; as a result the first explanation, that Bod-
Astart was the son of an otherwise unknown son of Esmunazar
I, must be retained. The following diagram will show the
genealogy of the kings of the Esmunazar dynasty : 3

Esmunazar I

Tabnit married Em-Astart x married y

Esmunazar II Bod-Astart

Sedek-yathon

1 Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1905, p. 8; but cp. A. 0., VIII, 17

2 "King of the Sidonians" refers to Bod- Altar t.

3 Of those who consider Sedek-yathon the father of Bod-A&tart, Torrey
believes the order of succession to have been Esmunazar I, Sedek-yathon,
Tabnit, Bod-Astart, Esmunazar II (Em-AStart) ; J.A.O. S., XXIV, p. 218ff.
On the other hand, Rouvier arranges them in the order Esmunazar I, Tabnit,
Esmunazar II, Sedek-yathon, Bod-A§tart; see Rec. d'arch. or., VI, p. 166.
Dussaud still holds that the father of Bod-As"tart never was king, and he
arranges the kings in this order: Esmunazar I, Tabnit, Esmunazar II, Bod-
Astart; Rev. arch., 1905, I, p. Iff. These views, which are based upon the

148 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

Of the reign of Esmunazar I we know nothing; Tabnit was
still in middle life when he died; 1 Esmunazar II ruled fourteen
years and died, still a young man, without children. It was
then that Bod-Astart, his cousin, came to the throne and enjoyed
a long reign. 2 What became of Sedek-yathon we do not know.
He may have died before his father; at any rate, nothing has come
to light thus far to show that he ever came to the throne.

With this interpretation agrees, on the whole, Clermont-Gan-
neau, 3 though he differs in important details. In I. 1 he pro-
poses to group the words differently; p1¥ he does not consider
a part of the name, but connecting it with p, he translates the
two words "the legitimate son," to which he gives the same
meaning which is given above to *fiD, ' l crown prince ' ' ; then,
connecting fJT with *]*?D, he reads the name of the crown
prince "j^WV, 4 and the whole of I. l t " The king Bod-A§tart,
and the crown prince Yathon-melek, the king of the Sidonians."
The combination ^ft^rV is peculiar; ordinarily the divine name
"] 7D is found in first place, followed by an Imperfect, and not in
second place, preceded by a Perfect. For this reason the reading
jrVpTV seems preferable.

The most difficult question remains yet to be considered,
namely, the date of the Esmunazar dynasty. Differences of
opinion on this point began with the first translation of the
inscription of Esmunazar. Salisbury assigned it to the latter
half of the generation intervening between the destruction of
Sidon by Artaxerxes Ochus and its surrender to Alexander; in
other words, c. 340 B.C. 5 With him agreed W. W. Turner. 6
Ewald was inclined to date it at least as early as the eleventh

early erroneous reading of the text, can no longer be held. The reading and
interpretation adopted above removes also the difficulty which was raised by
the erroneous reading DD^D "j^D ; J.A.O. S., XXIV, p. 223.

l J.A.O. S., XXIII, p. 168, n. 2.

3 The character of the ruins of the Esmun temple shows that Bod-Astart had
a long reign; cp. Mitteil. der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1905, p. Iff.

8 Rec. d'arch. or., VI, p. 337ff.

* Cp. also Rev. arch., 1905, I, p. 9; now also v. Landau, A. 0., VIII, 17.

5 /. A . 0. S., V, p. 243. 8 lb., p. 259.

DATE OF E&MUNAZAR DYNASTY 149

century B.C. 1 Hitzig placed it before the last decade of the
seventh century B.C. 2 The Duke de Luynes thought that the
historical, linguistic, palseographic, and artistic data all pointed
to 574-572 B.C. 3 Finally, Levy dated it c. 335. 4 The difference
of opinion was due to the absence of decisive data, on the basis of
which the question could be determined definitely. Later
discoveries have added to the data supplied by the Esmunazar
inscription, so that it is impossible to accept any longer the early
date proposed by Ewald; but they are still indefinite enough to
leave much room for differences of opinion. In 1873 Halevy
defended the date suggested by the Duke de Luynes, 5 and after
the discovery of the necropolis east of Sidon in 1887, Reinach
expressed the view that the dynasty of Esmunazar was con-
temporaneous with the Persian kings of the second half of the
sixth century B.C." In support of this view he calls attention
to the character of the sarcophagi, their disposition in the funeral
chambers, the order in which different methods of burial were
practiced, the place occupied by the sarcophagus of Tabnit as
compared with the location of the other sarcophagi, and the
resemblance of the articles found in the necropolis to similar
articles found in Egypt. From all the facts in the case he drew the
conclusion that the sarcophagus of Tabnit was the oldest of those
found at Ayaa; but to provide room for all the others, he thought
he must assign Tabnit to the sixth century, c. 520 B.C. 7 An
earlier date even is advocated by Porter. ' ' It is difficult, ' ' says
he, "to find space for such a dynasty any time subsequent to
Nebuchadrezar, so as to accord with the known facts in the
history of Phoenicia. ' ,8
A much later date has been advocated for many years by

1 Erklarung der grossen phonizischen Inschrift von Sidon, p. 49ff.

a Die Grabschrift des Esmunazar, p. 37ff.

' Memoire sur le sarcophage et I'inscription funeraire de ESmunazar, p. 55ff.

4 Phonizische Studien, I, p. 41.

5 Congres Internat. des orient., 1873, \er session, II, p. 245.
8 Une ntcropole, p. 343ff.

7 Ibid., p. 373. See also Rev. arch., 1905, II, p. 54.

8 P. E. F., 1903, p. 335.

150 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

Clermont-Ganneau, and is accepted now by many other scholars. 1
The argument in favor of the late date is cumulative. 1. The
sarcophagus of Esmunazar represents a late Egyptian type. 2 2.
The characters in the hieroglyphic inscription on the sarcophagus
of Tabnit point to the latest Persian period; 3 which implies that
the Phoenician inscription is even later. 3. DD^ft pK 4 is not
a Persian title; on the other hand, it is used several times of
the Ptolemies. 5 4. The term p"1N is thought to be a trans-
literation of the Greek kldwXov? Weighty though these argu-
ments may be, they have not convinced all scholars, and it
must be admitted that they are by no means conclusive. The
successive stages in the art of Egypt are not definitely enough
marked off from one another to justify the assertion that the
sarcophagus of Esmunazar could not come from the fifth or
even the sixth century B.C. The same is true of the character
of the hieroglyphic writing. Nor is the argument from silence
in the case of DD^D pK conclusive; and the identification
upon which the fourth argument is based has been called into
question. 7

On the other hand, the arguments in favor of the early date
are equally inconclusive. Dussaud has pointed out 8 that the
facts in the case do not presuppose as long an interval between
the earliest and latest burials at Ayaa as is assumed by Reinach.

1 e.g., E. Meyer, End. Bibl., art. Phoenicia ; Berger, Rev. arch., 1887, II, pp. 7,8.
"Who knows," says the latter, "if not the death and the end of the dynasty
of Esmunazar, who appears to have died without children, coincided with the
change of government — from the early Seleucids to the Ptolemies; see above,
p. 72 — and with the beginning of the era of the people of Tyre?"

2 Renan, Mission, p. 414, n. 3; C. I. S., I, p. 20.

3 Maspero, Rev. arch., 1887, II, p. 9. 4 C. I. S., I, 3, I. 18.
5 C. I. S., I, Nos. 93, 94, 95. The inscr. of Ma'sub, Annates du Muste Guimet,

X, pp. 503, 508; Rec. d'arch. or., V, p. 223; cp. 253.

9 HaleVy, Rev. des Etudes Juives, XV, pp. 292-295; cp. Driver, Notes on the
Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, p. XXVIII.

7 Sometimes the finding in the tomb of Tabnit of a coin bearing the name
of Ptolemy has been urged in favor of a late date, but Reinach denies that it
was found there; he affirms that it was found in a tomb of a later date; Une
ntcropole, p. 354. 8 Rev. arch., 1905, I, p. 16ff .

DATE OF ESMUNAZAR DYNASTY 151

The same writer has made a new attempt to fix the date of the
dynasty of Esmunazar. 1 He believes that there is enough in
the arguments of Reinach to make improbable the late date
suggested by Clermont-Ganneau. On the other hand, he thinks
that there is no warrant for going back to the sixth century; he,
therefore, suggests a date between the two extremes, 470-410
B.C. This date is based chiefly upon the testimony of coins from
Sidon. Babelon distinguishes 2 between seven types of Sidonian
coins struck between 400 and 332 B.C. To five of these types,
he thinks, correspond five Sidonian kings, four of whom he
identifies as follows: Strato I, 374-362; Tennes, 362-350;
Euagoras of Salamis, 349-346; Strato II, 346-332. Between
400 and 332, therefore, no room can be found for the dynasty of
Esmunazar. But Rouvier has gone beyond the labors of
Babelon and has differentiated, preceding the four kings named
by Babelon, nine additional types of coins, belonging to the
period from c. 480 to 374 B.C. 3 Dussaud thinks that the names
on some of these types cannot be identified with the names in the
dynasty of Esmunazar; but all these, he believes, can be placed
later than 410, which leaves 480 or 470-410 as a suitable place
for the dynasty. 4 We know that during these years Sidon was
supreme in Phoenicia, and Dussaud suggests that for the
services rendered to the Persian kings, one of them may have
bestowed upon Esmunazar Dor and Joppa. 5

// it could be proved that the dynasty cannot belong to the
close of the fourth and the beginning of the third century, the
period suggested by Dussaud might offer a suitable place; how-
ever, a date subsequent to Alexander the Great seems to accord
best with what we do know from other sources of the history of

1 lb., p. Iff. 3 Bull, de corresp. hell., 1891, p. 293ff .

3 Journal internat. d'arch. numism., 1902, pp. 99ff., 229ff.

* Clermont-Ganneau thinks that Babelon's conclusions are in perfect accord
with his own views — Journal Asiat., 1892, I, p. 115.

5 Cp. Scylax, p. 42. Clermont-Ganneau sees an allusion to this gift in Theo-
critus, Idyl., XVII, I. 110, which says that Ptolemy II gave much to the brave
kings; Annates du Musce Guimet, X, p. 508.

152 ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

Phoenicia. If this conclusion is correct, the order in which the
kings ruled must have been Abdalonimus, Esmunazar I, Tabnit,
Esmunazar II, Bod-Astart, §edek-yathon(?), Philocles, Republic. 1
The inscriptions and sarcophagi discussed in the preceding
pages are undoubtedly the most important archseological finds
made on the site of ancient Sidon, but to these may be added a
few other objects which are not without interest. Among them
may be mentioned a beautiful marble column of the third century
B.C. It contains an inscription of two lines, which states that
the column was erected by "DDO"Dy in honor of ]?2frW. This
inscription is of interest because it mentions the Assyrian
deity [O 1 ?^, and in the name of the donor occurs the divine
element "13DO = "TDtO = Mvij/uhtuvt}. 2 Two fragments of inscrip-
tions containing two or three lines of writing are mentioned
by Clermont-Ganneau as having been found near Sidon, 3 but
they are so damaged that he makes no attempt to translate
them. He also describes a beautiful sarcophagus made of white
marble and ornamented with sculptures representing mythical
scenes. 4 It comes from the first centuries of the Roman empire
and belonged to one Hermogenes, who died at the age of fifty.
A fragment of a dedicatory inscription of two lines was found in
the temple of Esmun. 5 Levy describes a bilingual Nabathean-
Greek inscription, which he dates c. 25 A.D. 6 In addition to
these many interesting objects and inscriptions in Phoenician,
Greek, and Latin, coming from periods far apart, have been
found in the burying places and gardens surrounding the present
town. 7 Also a few Egyptian fragments have been found. The
most interesting of these is a fragment of black basalt, on
which may be seen part of a royal figure holding staff and
mace. On the back is an inscription. Though damaged, it is
thought to contain the name Necho. 8

1 See above, p.75. * Journal A siat., 1892, 1, p.l07f. ;Rec. d'arch. or., I, p. Iff.

• Rec. d'arch. or., I, p. 77ff. * lb., I, p. 285ft . 5 /6.,V,p. 34.
8 Z. D. M. G., XXIII, p. 435ff. 7 See Appendix III.

• Proceed, of Soc. of Bibl. Arch., 1894, pp. 90, 91; Mitteil. der Vorderasia-
tischen Gesellschaft, 1904, p. 342ff.

MISCELLANEOUS INSCRIPTIONS 152

In conclusion mention may be made of a few inscriptions which
were not found in Sidon, but which have important bearing on
the history of Sidon or of Sidonians. Here first place must be
assigned to C. I. S., I, No. 5, a votive inscription in a bronze bowl
dedicated to pOP ^2 by a servant of Hiram, king of the
Sidonians. This is the oldest Phoenician inscription known at
present; it belongs to the period of Hiram II, who reigned in the
eighth century B.C. 1 Reference has already been made to C. I.
S., I, No. 114, 2 a bilingual inscription from Delos, which mentions
Abd-Astart, king of the Sidonians = Strato I, 374-362. From
Athens come C. I. S., I, Nos. 115, 116, 119, as witnesses to the
widespread influence of the Sidonians. Another inscription
from the Piraeus records a decree of the Sidonian colony in the
Pirseus to honor a fellow-citizen, Sama'-baal, for services rendered
while he was an official of the community. 3 Records have been
preserved also of Sidonian citizens receiving the honor of proxenos
and benefactor; for example, Apollonides, son of Demetrius,*
Heliodorus, son of Dionysius, 5 and Heliodorus, son of Mousaios. 6
Sons of Sidonians are named as being in the corps of the Attic
ephebi, 7 and as victors in gymnastic games at Athens 8 and at
Delos. 9

A few words may be added concerning Sidonian coins. Gese-
nius knew only a few, 10 and until quite recently it was thought
that the coining of money in Sidon had its beginning during the

1 See above, p. 46; and v. Landau, Beitrage zur Altertumskunde des Orient r
I, p. 17ff. By some it is assigned to a much earlier date; Lidzbarski, Hand-
buch, p. 176.

2 See above, p. 143.

3 Hoffmann, Ueber einige phbnikische Inschriften, No. 1 ; cp. C. I. A./II, suppl.
No. 13356.

«C. I. A., II, No. 171.

5 Bull, de corr. hell, 1898, p. 409.

8 Rec. d'arch. or., Ill, p. 146.

7 C. I. A., II, No. 482, 11. Ill, 121, 123.
■ 76., No. 448, 1. 16; 966, 1. 21 ; 968, 1. 53.

9 Bull, de corr. hell, VI, p. 146.

10 Monumenta, pi. 34; p. 264ff. The first Phoenician coin from Sidon was
recognized in 1708; Lidzbarski, Handbuch, p. 93.

154

ANTIQUITIES AND INSCRIPTIONS

Ptolemaic period, 1 but the more recent investigations of J. P.
Six, 2 E. Babelon, 3 and J. Rouvier 4 have made it certain that
coins were struck in Sidon at a much earlier period, Rouvier
tracing them back to c. 480 B.C. At that time the Sidonians
were the most useful of the vassals of the Persian kings, 5 and it
is not strange that in return for the services rendered they should
have received from their sovereigns certain privileges, among
them permission to coin their own money.

1 Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia, p. 534.

7 Numismatic Chron., 1877, p. 209ff.; 1884, p. 146ff.; 1894, p. 334ff.

8 Bull de corr. hell, 1891, p. 293ff.

* Journal internat. d'arch. numism., 1902, pp. 99ff., 229ff.
6 See above, p. 61ff.

• See further, Appendix II.

KINGS OF SIDON 155

APPENDIX I

KINGS OF SIDON WHOSE NAMES ARE KNOWN FROM THE INSCRIP-
TIONS AND CLASSICAL WRITINGS

I. Egyptian Vassal Kings of Sidon.
c. 1375. Zimrida. 1

II. Kings of Tyre Ruling in Sidon. 2

c. 738. Hiram. 3
c. 734. Metena. 4
c. 730-701. Luli. 5

727. Assyrian Vassal Kings of Sidon.

701-?. Tubalu. 6
(?)-678. Abdimilkuti. 7

1 Mentioned very frequently in the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence (see
above, p. 34ff.). B. 90, 11. 33, 34, implies that his ancestors also were kings
of Sidon; but there is nothing to indicate how many were kings or how long
they reigned.

2 See above, pp. 43-47.

3 III R. 9, I. 50ff.; C. I. S., I, No. 5; G. Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 274,
I. lOff. See above, p. 46. The Phoenician equivalents of the royal names
have been given in the historical sections above, in all cases in which it was
possible to determine these equivalents.

4 II R. 67, I. 66; see above, p. 47.

5 Sennacherib, Bull. Inscr. 2 and 3, 11. 17-20; I R. 43, 11. 13, 14; Taylor Cyl.,
Col. II, 11. 34-46; Bull. Inscr. 4; see G. Smith, Hist, of Senn., p. 54; III R. 12,
I. 18. Josephus, Ant., IX, 14, 2, says that Luli reigned thirty-six years. See
above, p. 48ff.

8 The Assyrian Inscriptions named in note 5 on preceding page.

7 1 R. 45, Col. 1, 11. 9-53; III R. 15, Col. II, 11. 27-30; Babyl. Chron. B., Col.
IV, I. Iff.

156 APPENDIX

IV. Persian Vassal Kings of Sidon.

c. 445 DP. 1

c. 435 0D. 2

c. 425 DP. 3

c. 410 ft. 4

c. 400 D. 5

c. 380 a e

374-362. Stratol. 7

362-351. Tennes. 8

351-350. Interregnum. 9

350-346. Euagoras II of Salamis. 10

346-332. Strato II."

V. Vassal Kings of Alexander and of the Ptolemies.

332-?. Abdalonimus. 12

c. 325. Esmunazar I. 18

c. 320. Tabnit. 14

c. 314-300. ESmunazar II (Em-A§tart). 15

c. 300-280. Bod-Astart. 16

c. 280-275. Philocles. 17

c. 275. Republic(?). 18

1 Type of Sidonian coins, IV; see below, p. 159.

2 Type V. s Type V I. * Type VII .

6 Type VIII. • Type X.

7 Type XI; C. I. G., I, 87; C. I. A., II, 86; Theopompos, Fragm. 126;
^Elianus, Varia hist., VII, 2; Jerome, Adv. Jov., I, 45.

8 Type XII; Diodorus, Bibl hist., XVI, 41-45.

9 See note 10.

10 Type XIII; Bull, de corr. hell, 1891, p. 310 ; Diodorus, XVI, 46.

11 Curtius, IV, 3, 4; Justin, XI, 10; type XIV.

12 Curtius, IV, 3, 4; Justin, XI, 10; type XVII.

13 C. I. S., I, No. 3; Inscr. of Tabnit; Inscr. of Bod-A§tart.
"Inscr. of Tabnit; C. I. S., I, No. 3.

18 C. I. S., I, No. 3.

18 Inscriptions of Bod-Ai-start; see above, p. 143ff.

" C. I. A., II, 1371 ; Bull, de corr. hell, IV, 327ff.; XIV, 407, 409; XV, 137.

18 See above, p. 75.

KINGS AND COINS 157

APPENDIX II

THE COINS OF SIDON

As is stated on page 155, until quite recently it was thought
that the coining of money in Sidon had its beginning during the
Ptolemaic period. 1 In 1877 B. V. Head still speaks very hesi-
tatingly about Sidonian coins of the Persian period. 2 Ten
years later he calls the coins which he describes in the earlier
work Sidonian, and suggests that they may have been struck in
Tripolis, in the quarter belonging to the Sidonians. 3 This is in
accord with the view expressed three years earlier by J. P. Six, 4
who discussed Sidonian coins as early as 1877 in an article
entitled Observations sur les monnaies pheniciennes. 5 In it he
distinguishes between three types of Sidonian coins struck during
the Persian period. Under each he recognizes several variations
— under the first type, six, under the second, five, and under the
third, six. To the years 332-309 he assigns thirty-seven coins,
one or more to each year, with the exception of 319-315, to
which years are assigned none. He also mentions numerous
coins of the period of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidse, and
of the period of Sidonian autonomy, as late as 43 A.D. 6 In
1894 he had come to distinguish seven types belonging to the

1 J. Brandis, Das Miinz-, Mass-, una 1 Gewichtswesen in Vorder Asien, p. 270.

2 International Numismata, Prt. Ill, 34,38.

3 Historia Numorum, p. 671.

* Numism. Chron., 1884, p. 146ff.

5 Numism. Chron., 1877, p. 177ff. The coins from Sidon are discussed on
p. 195ff.

6 This shows to be incorrect the statement of Lenormant (Diet, des an-
tiquiUs grecques et romaines, under Drachma tyria) that Pompey closed the
mint of Sidon in 63 B.C. What is said in the subsequent pages will show
that Reinach's statement, that the coinage of money was suppressed in Tyre
in 56 A.D. (Actes et conferences de la socUte des Etudes Juives, p. CCVI) cannot
be referred to Sidon, as is done by Lambert in Rev. des Etudes Juives, LI, p. 234.

158

APPENDIX

period between c. 380 and 331 B.C. In this he was undoubtedly
influenced by the study of E. Babelon, Les Monnaies et la chro-
nologic des rots de Sidon, 1 published in 1891, which contained the
most comprehensive discussion of the subject up to that time.
Babelon, on the basis of the inscriptions on the coins, their weight,
style, and other peculiarities, distinguishes seven types among
the alleged Sidonian coins of the Persian period:

Type

Obverse

Reverse

Max. Weight

Peculiarities of Type.

A

—

—

28 gr. 28

War galley with sail. No read-
ing. No attendant behind
chariot. The accessory fig-
ures incuse.

B

V

W

28 gr. 07

War galley without sail, before
a fortress. Horses galloping.
A wild goat incuse. Heading.

C

I to III

yn

25 gr. 90

Galley without sail upon waves,
Attendant behind chariot in
Asiatic costume. Reading
and numerals.

D

I to III

vv

25 gr. 95

The same peculiarities.

E

i to ni-

IV

25 gr. 85

Essentially the same character-
istics. The attendant wears
sometimes an Asiatic, some-
times an Egyptian costume.

F

(year 1 to
year 21)

or
?D

26 gr.

The same peculiarities. Writ-
ing is Aramaic. Attendant
wears always the Asiatic
costume.

G

3

V

28 gr. 30

Very fine style. Attendant is
Egyptian. Letter V appears
only on oboles.

Of these, type A he assigns to the reign of an unknown king
whose rule terminated in 374 B.C. D# on the coins of type B
he considers an abbreviation of JTVltPyDy = Strato I, who
reigned 374-362. Type C he assigns to Tennes, who was

1 Bull, de corr. hell, 1891, p. 293ff.

THE COINS OF SIDON 159

slain by Artaxerxes Ochus in 351 ; $H he thinks to be an abbre-
viation of his name. After the destruction of Sidon he assumes
an interregnum of one year, which was ended by the appoint-
ment of Euagoras II, king of Salamis, as king of Sidon, where
he ruled until 346. 1 To him he assigns type D, the abbreviation
VV being found upon coins struck by the same king in Cyprus.
The next type belongs to Strato II, IV = fnfHPJHQJ?, who
succeeded Euagoras and ruled until the capture of Sidon by
Alexander the Great.

The coins of type F, bearing the inscription *1?D, were
struck, he thinks, by Mazaios, who was satrap of Syria from 350
B.C. to the coming of Alexander, 2 in one of the cities of Cilicia,
over which he had been appointed satrap as early as 360. The
last group originated in Egypt, between 346 and 343, under the
direction of the eunuch Bagoas, friend and general of Arta-
xerxes. Babelon distinguishes also three types of bronze coins
which resemble the coins described, but which, in the absence
of names and dates, cannot be assigned to definite periods.

The most exhaustive study of Sidonian coins has been under-
taken by J. Rouvier, 3 who describes more than five hundred
different kinds, the earliest belonging to c. 480 B.C., the latest to
about 235 A.D. He distinguishes seventy-five different types.

A. The Period before Alexander.

a. Phoenician Kings of Sidon (c. 480-332 B.C.).

I. Unknown king (c. 480-c. 470 B.C.), four kinds of

coin.
II. Unknown king (c. 470-460 B.C.), one kind.

III. Unknown king (c. 460-450 B.C.), four kinds.

IV. Unknown 12$ (c. 450-440 B.C.), one kind.

1 Bull, de corr. hell, 1891, p. 310; cp. Diodorus, XVI, 46.

2 Cp. Numismatic Chron., 1884, p. 146ff.

8 Journal internal d'arch. numism., 1902, pp. 99ff., 229ff. On the whole
Rouvier agrees with the conclusions of Babelon, but he believes that the coins
of types F and G also originated in Sidon — Rev. Numism., 242ff.: cp. 317ff.,
421ff.

160 APPENDIX

V. Unknown 03 (c. 440-430 B.C.), two kinds.

VI. Unknown ty (c. 430-415 B.C.), two kinds.

VII. Unknown D (c. 415-405 B.C.), one kind.

VIII. Unknown D (c. 405-395 B.C.), one kind.

IX. Unknown kings (of types III-VIII), three kinds.

X. Unknown 3 (c. 390-374 B.C.), five kinds.

XI. Strato I (374-363 B.C.), 1 twenty-three kinds.

XII. Tennes (355-349 B.C.), five kinds.

XIII. Euagoras II (between 348 and 344 B.C.), seven

kinds.

XIV. Strato II (344-332 B.C.), fourteen kinds.

b. Other Coins of the Same Period

XV. Mazaios, the satrap (351-332 B.C.).

(1) Coins of Sidonian type dated during the reign of

Artaxerxes Ochus (359-338 B.C.).

(a) The interregnum between Tennes and Euagoras

II (350-347 B.C.), five kinds.

(b) Interregnum between Euagoras II and Strato

II; also the first years of Strato (343-338 B.C.),
six kinds.

(2) Coins of Sidonian types, dated in the reigns of Arsis

and Darius III (338-332 B.C.), five kinds.
XVI. Uncertain (350-332 B.C.), one kind.

B. The Period of Alexander and His Immediate Suc-
cessors.

a. Phoenician Kings of Sidon (332-?).

XVII. (1) Abdalonimus (332-?), two kinds.

(2) Uncertain kings (332-281 B.C., or later), three
kinds.

1 The dates given by Rouvier are not quite the same as those suggested above
in Appendix I. Absolute certainty is not possible at present.

THE COINS OF SIDON 161

b. Other Coins of the Same Period.

XVIII. Coins of Alexander (?-281 B.C.), thirty-one
kinds.
XIX. Philip Arrhidaeus (323-318 B.C.), four kinds.

C. Royal Coins without Dates or Dated according to the
Era of the Seleuchle (175-95 B.C.). 1

XX. Antiochus IV, Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.), ten
kinds.
XXI. Demetrius I, Soter (162-150 B.C.), eleven

kinds.
XXII. Alexander I (150-145 B.C.), nine kinds.

XXIII. Demetrius II, Nicator (first reign, 146-138 B.C.),

sixteen kinds.

XXIV. Antiochus VII, Euergetes (138-129 B.C.), twelve

kinds.
XXV. Demetrius II, Nicator (second reign, 130-125

B.C.), eight kinds.
XXVI. 2

XXVII. (1) Cleopatra Thea and Antiochus VIII (125-121
B.C.), two kinds.
(2) Antiochus VIII (125-96 B.C.), six kinds.
XXVIII. Antiochus IX (116-95 B.C.), two kinds.

D. Autonomous Coins not Dated (175-112 B.C.).

XXIX. From 174-112 B.C., seven kinds.

XXX. From 174-150 B.C., two kinds.

XXXI. From 174-112 B.C., one kind.

XXXII. From 174-112 B.C., one kind.

1 The coins of the Ptolemaic period are not discussed by Rouvier in this
article.

1 Rouvier omits apparently type XXVI ; however, the omission may be due
to a typographical error, as he has two types XXVII; probably XXVII (1)
should be XXVI.

11

162

APPENDIX

E. Autonomous Coins Dated according to the Era of

the Seleuchle (121-111 B.C.).

XXXIII. From 121-114 B.C., five kinds.

XXXIV. In 111 B.C., one kind.

F. Autonomous Coins Dated according to the Era of

Sidon (inaugurated in 112-111 B.C.).

XXXV. From 106-102 B.C., four kinds.

XXXVI. From c. 100-95 B.C., two kinds.

XXXVII. From 106 B.C.-43 A.D., twenty-four kinds.

XXXVIII. In 110 B.C., one kind.

XXXIX. From 109-43 B.C., fifteen kinds.

XL. From 44-117 A.D., seventeen kinds.

XLI. From 90-68 B.C., five kinds.

XLII. From 97-10 B.C., twenty-two kinds.

XLIII. In 29 B.C., one kind.

XLIV. In 27 B.C., one kind.

XLV. In 22 B.C., one kind.

XLVI. From 116-118 A.D., four kinds.

XLVII. In 26 A.D., one kind.

XLVIII. In 87 B.C., one kind.

XLIX. From 71 B.C.-6 A.D., ten kinds.

L. In 29 or 24 B.C., one kind.

LI. From 80-45 B.C., eight kinds.

LII. In 67 A.D., one kind.

LIII. From 63 B.C-116 A.D., twenty kinds.

LIV. From 8 B.C-116 A.D., four kinds.

LV. In44A.D.,onekind.

G. Imperial Coins Dated according to the Era of Sidon.

LVI. Augustus (20 B.C.-14 A.D.), eleven kinds.

LVII. Augustus and Livia, one kind.

LVIII. Tiberius (14-37 A.D.), two kinds.

LIX. Caligula (37-41 A.D.), two kinds.

LX. Claudius (41-54 A.D.), four kinds.

THE COINS OF SIDON

163

LXI. Nero (54-68 A.D.), four kinds.

LXIL Vespasian (69-79 A.D.), one kind.

LXIII. Domitian and Domitia (year 201, era of S.), one

kind.

LXIV. Trajan (98-117 A.D.), four kinds.

LXV. Hadrian (117-138 A.D.), four kinds.

LXVI. Pescennius Niger (193, 194 A.D.), one kind.

LXVII. Caracalla (197-217 A.D.), three kinds.

H. Imperial Colonial Coins.

LXVIII. Elagabalus (218-222 B.C.). Of the coins struck
under this emperor in Sidon ten groups may be
distinguished; of each several kinds are known,
altogether eighty-one kinds.
LXIX. Julia Paula (219-220 A.D.), ten kinds.
LXX. Annia Faustina (221 A.D.), nine kinds.
LXXI. Aquilia Severa (220, 221 A.D.), one kind.
LXXII. Julia Sosemias (218-222 A.D.), two kinds.
LXXIII. Julia Ma?sa (218-223 A.D.), fifteen kinds.
LXXIV. Severus Alexander Csesar (before 222 A.D.), four

kinds.
LXXV. Severus Alexander, Emperor (222-235 A.D.),
twenty-two kinds.

164 APPENDIX

APPENDIX III

ANTIQUITIES FROM SIDON

It is the purpose of this appendix to enumerate briefly some
of the less important archaeological finds on the site of ancient
Sidon or in its immediate environments. In view of the great
number of antiquities unearthed a description is out of the ques-
tion here. Renan enumerates many antiquities found in or near
Sidon, among them numerous Greek and Latin inscriptions,
both of the early period and of the later Middle Ages; also
Arabic inscriptions. A great number of objects were found in the
necropolis, including a terra cotta statue of Athene, terra cotta
and alabaster vases, lamps, pottery of various sorts, divers toilet
articles, gold bracelets, necklaces, arms, glassware, keys and
bottles. 1

In Archives des missions scientifique, 1885, are mentioned the
following : A funeral cippus, 2 the base of a funeral cippus with a
Greek inscription, 3 a disk and a band of bronze with inscriptions, 4
a statue of Astart, a fragment of a Phoenician inscription, 5 five
bronze figures of Astart and one of a man. 6 In Gazette archeo-
logique, 1877, p. 102ff., Clermont-Ganneau describes a small
column and a mural tablet, on which is painted a female figure
reclining on a bier, with her head raised and resting on one hand. 7
On p. 107ff. he describes two painted funeral columns from Sidon,
and the fragment of a third. A report by Lawrence Oliphant 8

1 Renan, Mission, pp. 361ff., 431. A summary of the finds is given on p.
484ff. In Rec. d'arch. or., V, p. 212fT., are discussed six of the Greek inscrip-
tions mentioned by Renan.

2 P. 193. 3 P. 212. 4 P. 215. 6 P. 228.

6 Pp. 228, 229, 241.

7 These were shown to him in Jerusalem, and local tradition claims that they
were found there, but he assigns them to Sidon; cp. also Archaeological
Researches in Palestine, I, p. 77. 8 P. E. F., 1886, p. 13.

ANTIQUITIES FROM SIDON 165

states that a friend of his opened a tomb near Sidon, in which
he found two pottery bottles seven inches high, three glass tear
bottles, one silver ring much corroded and oxidised, with an
inside diameter of an inch and a quarter, the ends united by
a scarabaeus, on the under side of which is a single character H ;
two silver finger rings, in one of which is a small turquoise ; a gold
pendant, which may have been the drop of an earring; two
pebbles carved to resemble fishes' heads, two copper mirrors,
some beads, and many other small objects of interest. During
the excavations in 1887 Hamdy Bey found many articles of
interest. Of these he describes 1 vases of terra cotta and ala-
baster, bowls in bronze and marble, buckles in bronze, plates of
gold, an altar, buttons of gold, nails of bronze, bracelets of silver,
bronze, and gold, bronze mirrors, rings of bronze and gold,
frontlets of gold, a terra cotta lamp, candelabra in bronze, pearl
beads, toilet articles of ivory, etc.

As coming from Sidon, Clermont-Ganneau enumerates also the
following articles : Two heads or masks of terra cotta, a fragment
of a statue of terra cotta representing the Egyptian deity Bes,
two ear-pendants of gold, the base of a vase of terra cotta.*
Fragments of six Greek inscriptions are described in Rev. arch.,
1898. 3

In addition to the building inscriptions of Bod-Astart, von
Landau describes a number of articles found during the excava-
tions under the direction of Macridy Bey on the side of the ancient
Esmun temple. 4 He enumerates fifteen fragments of Phoenician
inscriptions, mostly on marble; all of these are apparently on
objects presented as votive offerings. One inscription, described
also in Revue biblique, 1902, 5 contains the name IVJiT, another,
described in the same Revue* the name DN"DJ7. Other frag-
ments too small to be deciphered were also found. The
same excavator laid bare a soldiers' cemetery of the period of

1 Une necropole royale a Sidon, passim.

3 Journ. Asiat., 1892, 1, p. 119. 3 II, pp. 109-112.

* Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1904, pp. 312-320.

5 P. 524. 6 P. 523.

166 APPENDIX

the Seleucidse, in which were found some fragments of Greek
pottery and twelve painted funeral columns, nine of which are
described by Jalabert. 1 Three others had been unearthed in
1897. 2 The votive inscription of Achoris of Egypt, 396-383 B.C.,
shows that long before the time of Bod-Astart a temple of
Esmun stood on the south side of the Nahr-al-Auwaly. In a
later report 3 von Landau mentions a seal in the form of a scara-
bseus, two parts of a stone plate showing in relief the picture of a
male deity, a figure of the Egyptian god Bes, two heads from the
classical period, and more pottery. In a tomb near Hebbabiye
was found a figure, carved in ivory, which served at one time as
a rouge-box.

Two remarkable finds of ancient coins were made. In 1852
were unearthed three receptacles of lead, each containing about
1,200 coins; in 1863 three other receptacles of lead were found,
two of which were filled with coins of Alexander the Great. 4

That Sidon was an important centre of glass industry is
proved by the interesting finds of glass objects in its ruins. In
Verres antiques recueillis en Phenicie, published in Paris in 1881,
are described 174 articles of glass found in Phoenicia, chiefly in
Arados and Sidon. The author does not specify which belong
to the latter city. During the Greek and Roman period glass-
blowing was well known. Heron de Villefosse describes frag-
ments of four goblets found in Sidon, containing the inscription
Xafie TTjv vetxrjv, and two similar ones found in other places, which
he considers of Sidonian workmanship. The N of rrjv is re-
versed, the peculiarity serving perhaps as a trademark. 5 When
the workers in glass became more numerous or ambitious, they
stamped their names upon their productions. "Artas the
Sidonian, ' ' in both Greek and Latin, is found on some rich and

1 Rev. arch., 1904, II, p. Iff. Cp. Melanges de la Faculty Orientate, Univer-
sity St. Joseph, Beyrouth, 1906, I, p. 171ff. Here is given also a list of names
found on the funeral columns from Sidon, now in the Louvre in Paris.

2 Rev. arch., 1904, I, p. 234ff.

8 Mitt, der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1905, p. 12ff.

4 Pietschmann, Geschichte der Phonizier, p. 54.

5 Bull, de la soc. nat. des antiquaires, 1904, pp. 277-280.

ANTIQUITIES AND GLASS 167

beautiful vases. It occurs on a broken blue glass handle in the
British Museum. Artas is thought to have lived during the
reign of Hadrian. On another handle is read, "Made by a
Sidonian. ' ' Other Sidonian workers in glass whose names have
been preserved are Neikon and Eirenaios, the latter belonging
to the time of Caligula, whose picture he places by the side of
his own name. 1

1 L. Lobmeyr, Die Glassindustrie, p. 7; M. A. Wallace-Dunlop, Glass in the
Old World, p. 28;cp. p. 21.

VITA

Frederick Carl Eiselen, son of Christian and Elisabeth
Eiselen, was born on November 25, 1872, in Mundelsheim,
Oberamt Marbach, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany. His
early education he received in the public schools, and after-
ward he attended the gymnasium in Landsberg a. W. and
Custrin. Having come to the United States of America in 1890,
he entered, in 1897, the Drew Theological Seminary, Madison,
New Jersey, from which he graduated three years later with the
degree of Bachelor of Divinity. While there he gave special
attention to Hebrew and Old Testament studies under the direc-
tion of Professor Rogers. During the years 1898-1900 he pur-
sued graduate studies at New York University under Professors
Prince and Ellinwood and Mr. Osborne, receiving the degree of
Master of Arts in 1899. The following year he studied at
Columbia University under Professors Gottheil and Jackson and
Dr. Yohannan. During 1901-02 he studied with Professor
Jastrow and Dr. Clay at the University of Pennsylvania. In
1902 he was elected to the Professorship of Semitic Languages
and Old Testament Exegesis at the Garrett Biblical Institute,
Evanston, Illinois, which position he now occupies.

168

INDEX

Abdalonimus, 69ff., 156, 160.

Abd-asirta, 34ff.; letter of, 37.

Abd-astart, 143.

Abdimilkuti, 52ff., 155.

Abi-milki, 35, 36.

Adad-nirari III, 45.

Ahmad-al-Jazzar. 107, 120.

Alexander the Great, 68, 69, 139, 140,
161.

Anonymous pilgrims, 100, 101.

Antiquities, 138ff.;fromSidon, 146ff.,
152; from Greece, 153.

Antoninus Martyr, 80.

Antony, 76, 77.
Aphrodite, 134.
Apollo, 136.
Apollodorus, 74.
Apries, 58, 59.
Aqueduct, 6.

Arabic geographers and historians, 2,
80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 94,
98, 99, 102, 103, 118.
Artaxerxes Ochus, 65-67.
Artemis, 135.
Arts, 122.
Asclepios, 135.
Assyria, fall of, 56.
Assyrian supremacy in Phoenicia,

41ff.; decline, 42, 46.
Astart, 127, 128.
Asur-bel-kala, 42.
Asur-nasir-pal, 43.
Athens, 63, 153.
Attica, 64, 153.
Augustus, 77.
Aziru, 37.

Baal-Lebanon, 124, 153.
Babelon, E., 154, 158.

Baibars, sultan of Egypt, 98.
Baldwin I, 83, 84.
Baldwin II, 86.
Bel, 129.

Bishops of Sidon, 79, 87, 137.
Bod-astart, 74, 143ff., 156.
Bordeaux pilgrim, 79.
Bronze bowl, 153.
Burial, 132.

Census, 108, 137.

Christianity, 79, 137.

Christians evacuate Sidon, 99!

City states, 33.

Clermont-Ganneau, 8, 11, 27, 74, 146 r
151, 164, 165.

Cnidus, 63.

Coins, 151, 153, 154, 157ff. ; claims ex-
pressed on coins, 24, 25, 110, 111.

Colonies, HOff.; origin of, 112; influ-
ence of Phoenician cities, 114.

Commerce, 115ff.; transferred from'
Sidon, 107.

Commercial settlements, 113.

Conrad de Montferrat, 91.

Cosmologies, 132-134.

Crusades, 82ff.

Curses, 132.

Customs, 131.

Cyrus, 60.

Da'am, 129.

Daniel, Abbot, 99.

D'Arvieux, 105, 118, 119, 137.

Deities, 124ff.

Diodorus, 61, 65, 71, 72, 117.

Dionysos, 135.

Dussaud, 150.

Dyes, 121.

169

170

INDEX

Earthquake, 88, 108.

Egyptian deities, 130; Egyptian

sources, 21, 22, 34; Egyptian

supremacy, 39.
Elulaeus, 48, 51.
Em-astart, 73, 141, 156.
Environs of Sidon, 6.
Esarhaddon, 9, 53, 54, 55.
Esarhaddonsburg, 53, 55, 56.
Esmun, 126, 127; temple of, 7, 8, 74,

141, 143ff.
Esmunazar I, 73, 148, 156.
ESmunazar II, 73, 74, 140, 141, 142,

148, 156.
Esmunazar dynasty, 145, 147ff.
Euagoras, 65, 156, 160.
Eustachius Grenier, 86.
Exports, 119-121.
Ezekiel, 57, 114, 115.

Fakhr-addin, 104, 105, 118, 123.

Fertility, 2, 3.

Frederic Barbarossa, 91.

Frederic II, 94, 95.

French commerce, 105, 118, 119.

Fretellus, 99.

Future life, 131.

Glass, 122, 166, 167.
Greece, 63, 76, 153.
Greek deities, 134ff.

Habiri, 34ff.

Hamdy, O., 138, 142, 165.

Harbors, 3, 4, 121.

Hasselquist, 119.

Head, B. V., 157.

Helios, 135.

Hermes, 137 note 1.

Herod Agrippa, 78.

Herodotus, 27, 62.

Hiram I, 42.

Hiram II, 46, 153, 155.

Hittites, 40.

Homer, 19, 116.

Idrlst, 103, 123.
Imports, 119-121.

Industries, 121ff.
Inscriptions, 140ff.
Institutions, 109.
Irbil, 15 note 2.
Island Sidon, 9.

Jeremiah, 56, 57.

Jeremias, F., 21, 22, 40, 41, 42, 47,

49, 52.
Jerusalem, 59.
Jews, 77, 108, 137 note 5.
Joannes Phocas, 100.
John of Wurzburg, 100.
Josephu3, 76, 77, 117.
Julius Caesar, 76.

Kal'at-al-bahr, 4, 94.
Kal'at-al-Mu'ezzeh, 5.
Kings of Sidon, 155, 156.
Krall, J., 15, 21, 22, 41.

Laish, 111.

Landau, W. von, 33, 42, 49, 50, 56,

124, 143, 145, 147, 148, 153, 165,

166.
Law school, 80.
Leptis, 111.
Louis IX, 96.
Lull - Elulseus, 51, 155.

Malik-al-Adil, 92, 93.
Maundrell, H., 106.
Metena, 47, 155.
Milestones, 7.
Mnemosyne, 136.
Mohammedan conquest, 80.
Mohammedanism, 137.
Mongols, 97.
Mosques, 5.

Mourning women, 139, 140.
Movers, C. F., 11, 16, 17, 19, 25, 27,
28, 33, 41, 110.

Nahr-al-Auwaly, 2, 7, 8.

Name Sidon, 10ff.; orthography, 10;

mythological etymologies, 10 ;

traditional etymology, 11; true

meaning, 13, 14, 30, 31.

INDEX

171

Nasir-i-Khusrau, 81, 123.

Nebuchadrezar, 56ff.

Necho, 58, 152.

Necropolis, 5, 6, 138.

Nergal, 130.

New Testament references, 77, 78.

Niebuhr, C, 106, 119.

Nur-addin, 88.

Old Testament references, 18, 19, 117.
Oliaros, 111.

Parthians, 77.

Pasha, Sidon residence of, 106.

Persian supremacy, 60ff., revolt
against, 64ff .

Pliilip Augustus, 91.

Philocles, 74, 75, 156.

Phoenicia, extent, 1 ; Plain of, 1 ; occu-
pation by Semites, 29, 30; city
states, 33; conquest by Egypt, 33.

Phoenician colonies, llOff.

Phoenicians, original home, 27, 28;
migration, 29, 110; etymology of
name, 31 note 3; a seafaring nation,
114.

Pilgrims, 79, 80, 99-101.

Plain of Phoenicia, 1 ; of Sidon, 1, 2, 3.

Pococke, 119.

Population, 108, 109, 137.

Poseidon, 136.

Ptolemy I, 71.

Ptolemies, 71, 72.

Purple, 31 note 3, 121.

Quarters of Sidon, 8, 144, 145.

Rawlinson, G., 1, 16, 33, 65, 121, 154.
Reginald, lord of Sidon, 89, 90, 91.
Reinach, Th., 138, 140, 141, 142, 149,

150.
Religion, 124ff.
Religious census, 137; customs, 131;

institutions, 109.
Renan, E., 2, 4, 6, 7, 139, 141, 150,

164.
Republic, 75, 76, 156, 162.
Reseph, 136.

Rib-addi, 34, 35.

Richard the Lion-hearted, 91.

Rivers near Sidon, 2.

Rogers, R. W., 29, 41, 42, 53, 60.

Roman supremacy, 76ff., 162, 163.

Rouvier, J., 154, 159ff.

Ssewulf, 99.

Saida, 10; size of, 3.

Saladin, 89-91.

Salman, 129.

Salmaneser I, 41.

Salmaneser II, 45.

Salmaneser IV, 47ff.

Samas, 129.

Sandys, 104.

Sarcophagi, 139; of Alexander, 139,
140; of mourning women, 139, 140;
of Esmunazar II, 140, 141 ; of Tab-
nit, 142.

Sedek, 128, 129.

Sedek-yathon, 74, 146, 148.

Seleucidse, 71, 72, 75, 161, 162.

Semites, original home, 28; migra-
tions, 29.

Sennacherib, 50ff.

Sheol, 131.

Shipyards in Sidon, 62, 71.

Sid, 12, 13, 30, 31, 130, 131; origin,
13; disappearance, 14.

Sidon, coins, 24, 25, 110, 111, 157ff.;
antiquity, 16ff. ; environs, 6; ex-
tent of ancient city, 7, 8; of modern
town, 3; harbors, 3, 4, 106; Island
Sidon, 9; mosques, 5; name, lOff. ;
necropolis, 5, 6, 138; navy, 61, 62;
quarters, 8, 144, 145; present con-
dition, 108, 109; residence of Per-
sian kings, 61; ruled by kings of
Tyre, 47, 50, 52; secures independ-
ence, 52; shipyards, 62, 71.

Sidon, the firstborn of Canaan, 17.

Sidon and Sidonian, 17ff., 31; in Old
Testament, 18; in Homer, 19; in
Greek and Latin writers, 20.

Silk industry, 123.

Six, J. P., 154, 157.

172

INDEX

Stone age, 32 note 3.
Strato I, 64, 65, 156, 160.
Strato II, 69, 156, 160.
St. Willibald, 80.
Ste. Paula, 79.

Tabnit, 73, 142, 143, 148, 156.
Tanith, 129.

Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 22, 34ff.
Templars, 88, 89, 97, 99.
Temples, 6, 7, 8, 74, 141, 143ff.
Tennes, 66, 156, 160.
Textile fabrics, 121.
Theodosion, 79.
Tiglathpileser I, 41.
Tiglathpileser III, 46, 47.

Toghtekin, 84.
Tombs, 132, 138, 139.
Torrey, C. C, 8, 144, 147.
Tripolis, Council of, 61.
Tubalu, 51, 155.
Turkish conquests, 102.
Types of Sidonian coins, 157ff.
Tyre, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 35fl\, 40, 41,
42, 43, 44, 47-50, 52, 55, 59, 60, 69.

Vessels entering harbor of Sidon, 121.

Winckler, H., 11, 12, 29, 32, 43, 46,
47, 50, 54, 59, 110, 126, 144.

Zeus, 136.

Zimrida, 34ff., 155; letters of, 38, 39.

THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Columbia University Oriental
Studies

Edited by Richard J. H. Gottheil

VOL. I. THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE
MORAL QUALITIES. An Ethical Treatise of
the Eleventh Century by Solomon Ibn Gabirol.
Printed from an unique Arabic manuscript, together
with a translation and an essay on the place of Gabirol
in the history of the development of Jewish Ethics.
By Stephen S. Wise, Ph. D. 8vo, cloth, pp. ix + 1 1 7.
Price, $1.25 net.

VOL. II. PARODY IN JEWISH LITERA-
TURE. By Israel Davidson, Ph.D.

VOL. III. OLD BABYLONIAN TEMPLE

RECORDS. By Robert Julius Lau, Ph.D.

8vo, cloth, pp. xi + 89 + 41. Plates. Price, $1.50
net.

VOL. IV. SIDON. A Study in Oriental History.
By Frederick Carl Eiselen, Ph.D.

VOL. V. A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF

GAZA, from the Earliest Times to the Present
Day. By Martin A. Meyer, Ph.D.

VOL. VI. BUSTAN AL-UKUL, OR THE
GARDEN OF WISDOM. By David Levine
Ph.D.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Agents

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

3Jan'50BGfc
170ct'50WK

JUL1 ' 67 - 9M *

LOAN DEPT.

JAN 6 1380

reccib. FEB 21 1 *

LD 21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476

■HsW»*^ n ' ff

I to 72/

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

in

i: - . : : ; J ; : ;